Sidelined

While the boys went skiing, I got to spend the weekend with my sweet teen girl making the most of her post-concussion-no-impact-sports healing. We binge watched New Girl on Netflix. We ate sushi and popcorn and all the things we love (well, most of the things, let’s be realistic). Everything ended rather abruptly when I got the call the boys were coming home. Darling husband slipped coming down the mountain and blew out his knee. In, like, all the ways. 

As we were sitting with the orthopedic doctor the next day, I watched the flu come over my already miserable, suffering guy. By the end of the appointment, I knew we were headed straight to his primary care physician. He not only tested positive for Flu A, but had already developed pneumonia. 

I was trying not to think of how many times he had coughed on me while we were waiting, so I instead tried to focus on all the things I could do to prepare. Face masks! Bone broth! Clorox wipes! On Guard oil! I was determined to keep myself and both kids from catching it. 

Once we got home, which was neither graceful nor easy, I got the poor guy into bed and surrounded the bed in a salt circle. Just kidding. Though, I admit, I did go a little overboard with the Lysol spray. When the message popped up from the pharmacy that his prescriptions were ready, I had my cart filled faster than you can say saltines and electrolytes. I got everything home and started prepping his meds according to the instructions.

Curiosity got the best of me. I flipped over the box of Tamiflu. Sure enough, in addition to a couple of suspect ingredients, the Tamiflu capsules contained gelatin. So I checked the Z-Pak. Magnesium Stearate. Both drugs in capsule form are off the table for me and all the other alpha-gals out there.

I spent the night worrying that if I got the flu, I wasn’t going to be able to treat it. Since I was up anyways, I started searching for options. Can you get a liquid form of Tamiflu? YES. I’ve since checked with our local compounding pharmacy to confirm many antibiotics are also available in liquid form or can be prepared in vegetarian capsules. I’ve ensured that the pharmacy has it recorded in my file that I have alpha-gal syndrome, as well. They are on alpha-gal full alert and will be watching for any potentially dangerous byproducts when I have prescriptions filled. If you have a local compounding pharmacy, we highly recommend you get to know them better. Our pharmacists have even been known to call drug manufacturers to determine the derivatives of suspect ingredients.

So now we alpha-gals can worry a little less about the flu. But in the meantime, try out our super easy recipe for making bone broth HERE. Bone broth is rich in vitamins and nutrients, and you can’t beat the healing properties. Protein-packed. Easy. Freezable. Good for cartilage (AKA, destroyed knees). Give it a go.

🐟🐓❤️ Debbie