Have flu need help!

Hi ladies,
My surgery is scheduled for Dec 14 so I still have some time. My problem is, that I have contracted the flu. It always turns into bronchitis and is well on its way right now. This always lasts for about 3-4 weeks until my lungs are finally cleared out. That cuts it kind of close! I went to doc 2 days ago and got antibiotics, but they seem to be doing very little to control the green goop. Also taking robitussin dm trying to keep lungs clear and prescript decongestant. Is there anyone else out there who can recommend something else for this that might work to battle this. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have to have this surgery before jan 1 as we are switching to new ins and surgery would not be covered, as it is pre-existing. Thanks in advance...

Hi!
Sorry to hear you have the flu. I'm back from my Nov 3 surgery. Thanks so much for your support ahead of time. Although some ladies here don't seem to like herbal reccommendations, I've found that echinacea works very well to boost the immune system and can also be taken along with an antibiotic. Some people are allergic to echinacea but even though I get things like hay fever, I've never had a problem with it. My herb of choice for infections is olive leaf extract - it is great and fights bacteria and viruses. There is info on the net about these herbs. You can ask your doctor of course, and I don't want to advise you improperly, but many mds don't know much about herbal alternatives. Other tried and true remedies include garlic,fresh cloves or even garlic pills would help, and plenty of vitamin C. I was taking Vitamin C pre-op and I'm still taking it now! Make sure you have a cool mist humidifier to keep the air around you moist. If you have a virus the antibiotics won't do much to help you but these other remedies may. Wishing you all the best! Waiting is truly the hardest part!
Love, Light, Blessings
Druid TLH and Burch 11/3

Druid,
thanks so much for the advice. I'm gonna try the echinacea (sp). I have been taking 2000 mg of vitamin c for a few weeks and it has not helped me to keep the bug away.

I am so glad to hear your surgery went well. I cannot wait to be a princess. I am so tired of feeling bad. Glad to hear waiting is the worst part. Gives us LIW an encouraging push.lol
I dont know if you saw the last message I posted to you, but your email got deleted along with your email address. Would love to talk sometime. Once again, thanks for the advice. just trying to come up with something to get rid of this stuff.

Dear Sunworshiper,

I totally understand your concern with Bronchitis before surgery. I came down with it two weeks before my TAH/BSO, which was Oct. 5th. I was put on an antibiotic and was given an Albuterol inhaler. I also loaded up on Vitamin C, Echinacea, and Zinc Lozenges. My surgery was done on an emergency basis, so I had to idea at the time that I had the Bronchitis that I would be going through major surgery. I did experience alot of coughing following the surgery (keep that pillow handy!), and found the inhaler to be a God-send! I found that laying down flat was difficult, but with pillows propping my head up, I didn't feel like I would drown from all the "junk" in my lungs. Hope this helps! God bless you and I will keep you in my prayers.

I have found that many of the herbal remmidies work well. Being a nursing student I use to dissmiss them till last year when I was pg and got the stomach virus. I finnaly called my Midwife..(we had our son at home) and she said get some acidophillus. I did and it worked ..DH had been fighting it forfour days before I/ got it with no letting up!! I only had it one day!! Since then the midwife and health food store has taught me many new tricks.

I was told to take the ecinashia sp?? Three every hr for the first day!!

Also, one thing I did not see Druid tell you about was that ginger will help to thin the secritions!! I would go by some of that and take it too!

Next, you need to keep the sinus clear and clean! Use normal saline nose drops and you can even flush them out with a bulb syrigne and a salt water mix just fill the bulb up with the soulition and hold your head over the sink and skwirt it in the nose and let it flow out! This was the doctors rcomendation to my husband after sinus surgery and told him to use it from now on!! This helps keep infections away!!

last! Take the vitamin C Not only will it help you now but will help you after the operation because this is a good vitamin to take when the body is repairing muscle. Also, get a little more protine in your dite from now till you are recovered!!

hope you are feeling better soon!

I will be thinking of you and praying you get better before you surgery.
Get plenty of rest and try the echinachea, it works.
Take plenty of Vitamin C and lots of orange juice.
e-mail me if you would like.
joycie145@aol.com

Thanks so much ladies,
I have went out and bought all kinds of stuff.lol Hopefully some of this will work. Been taking all kinds of vitamin C for about 3 weeks and still managed to get the crud.
Gimeabreak, I know exactly what you are talking about with the green gunk. It is just awful and takes so long to get rid of. Glad to see you were still able to go through with surgery, even though it was emergency surgery. Hope all is well for you now. I will take all of your advice and see if I can get better. Thanks so much!!!!