So it looks like the flu has made it to my house. One of my girls has fever, chills last night, a bit of nausea and headache. Sounds like the flu. I’m starting to feel it, too.

So what’s a good parent to do? Keep the kid home, give her lots of fluids, chicken soup, acetaminophen and/or ibuprofen, and lots of rest. Watch the fever, and if it gets above 102 despite the acetaminophen /ibuprofen cocktail, then call the doc. (for the record, I said call, not frantically make an appointment). That’s what I’m going to do for me. Beats paying a $20 co-pay. Nevermind that the cost of the visit will actually be about $45 from my HSA for her or $65 for me. (Ah, but let’s not head down that rabbit hole in this post.)

So what are we doing? All of the above AND going to the doc. Now here is where I start to sound like an old person. We would never have done that when I was little. Case in point. I’m feeling the same bug, but I’m not going to the doc.

Granted. This is more than the sniffles. She should go. Don’t think me unsympathetic (nor unwilling to spend the few dollars to be sure my child gets well as fast as possible and is not going to keel over from some little-known mutated-super-avian-genetically-modified flu bug). I’m just saying that it’s no wonder our healthcare costs continue to rise. We’re addicted to going to see the doc to get some kind of fix for what ails us.

Maybe we can go see a shrink about it. I think my healthcare will cover it.