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This is a sponsored post by Collective Bias® and Walgreens.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Today I wanted to share with you why my family and I ALWAYS get a flu shot.  I recently posted an article about why I vaccinate my children.   Today I wanted to talk about why YOU need to keep your immunizations up to date.

flu shot myth

My mom is a registered nurse.  When we lived in Pennsylvania, one of her jobs was to be in charge of the flu vaccines in our area.  She educated my brother and I on the reasons that we needed to have our vaccine, as well.   I never missed one.

Now that I have we have our own children, I realize the huge importance of getting adult vaccines.   Let me ask you a question…  if you were at work or volunteering at your child’s school or at a restaurant and the person beside you, who is coughing and sneezing, reached out and grabbed your hand… would you wash that hand before going home to your family?

Why would you do that?  To protect your family, right?

That is what a vaccine does.  It not only protects you, but it also protects your children, your parents, your spouse, your friends, your co-workers, etc…   When you taking the steps to keep yourself safe, you are also protecting them.  Think of the vaccine as putting a shield around your family by keeping yourself protected.  I read a story about someone that died in a flash from the flu last year and it terrified and saddened me.

Do you want to take your kids to a football game?  Go out for ice cream?  Take your kids to the movies?  Play at the playground?   Play fun games with your kids? Go out to eat?  Have a date night? You need to keep yourself healthy for these things.

flu shotGetting sick can get everyone down.   Many people are misinformed about the flu vaccine, so I want to quickly de-bunk those myths.

  1. Myth #1-  You will get the flu from the vaccine.  WRONG!  If you get sick after the vaccine, you were already well on your way.  The flu vaccine is made from an inactivated virus (you can’t catch it!)
  2. Myth #2- I’ll get over it if I catch it.
    Ok, you might.  Before you argue this one, let me tell you that I had to watch our baby boy have the flu.  I couldn’t help him because I was pregnant and on bed rest with our second child.   I couldn’t hold him because I was considered high-risk and had to stay away from as many germs as possible.  I watched him lay, sick as I’d ever seen him, at one year old.   My mom and my husband took care of him 24/7 as he was lethargic, feverish, in pain.   I don’t ever want to see that again and I don’t want to have to go through it myself.  They were lucky to have gotten him to the Doctor early enough to get the medication to speed the flu along.  Others are not so lucky and have fatal outcomes.
  3.  Myth # 3- You can catch the flu from being outside.
    Lets just end this one all together.  You will not get sick from being outside (or outside with wet hair, while we’re at it).  Just because the flu happens to come at a time when it is getting cold out, this does not mean that you catch it from the cold.  You catch it from being around someone else with the flu.  (influenza virus)

4.  Myth #4-  A stomach bug is not the flu.
If you are vomiting, you probably have a stomach bug, not the flu.

Here are some symptoms of the flu, according to WebMd: 

  • fever (usually high)
  • severe aches and pains in the joints and muscles and around the eyes
  • generalized weakness
  • ill appearance with warm, flushed skin, watery eyes
  • headache
  • dry cough
  • sore throat and watery discharge from your nose

You can get your immunizations at your local Walgreens (I’ve found that there is usually little or no wait time)   It is so easy.  I go every year because I don’t want to have to make an appointment at my Doctor’s office.   You can see my pictures of our trip to get my flu shot HERE.
(
My 3 year old took this picture of my bandaid.)

#shop

Another reason that I go to Walgreens is because they have partnered with the United Nations Foundation’s Shot at Life campaign.  Until October 14, 2013 for every person who receives a flu shot or any immunization at Walgreens, they’ll help supply a life saving vaccine to a child in a developing country.   This is the campaign called “GET A SHOT.  GIVE A SHOT.”  I personally LOVE this campaign!    This will provide up to three million vaccines for life threatening diseases like measles and polio.  

I wanted to tell you how I am “giving a shot”.  By giving an actual shot to a child in a developing country, I am, in turn, giving that child a chance to WIN THE GAME BALL!  (& here is our little sweetie doing just that… thanks to the flu vaccine for keeping all of us healthy!)
flu shot vaccine

 

IF YOU ARE STILL UNSURE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD GET THE FLU SHOTcheck out this scary, saddening, tragic story about how the flu can kill in a flash

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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1 Comment

  1. Great post Becky!! I actually learned some things I didn’t know about the flu and the vaccination. Also after reading at the symptoms of the flu, it’s looking like I may have the flu! I haven’t been feeling well the past few days…. the last thing I want to do is give anything to anyone else! I have NOT had my flu shot yet this year, if you already have the flu can you get the flu shot at that time?? Thanks for posting! ~Leah~