I was delighted to open my paper this morning and see that the House passed Health Care Reform. It is a triumph of democracy over corporate influence - passed in spite of the massive amounts of money and effort from insurance industries, their Republican congressmen, and Fox News.

The Republicans keep saying the Dems will pay for it in the next election. I think the shame is on every single one of the Republicans who voted against helping the poor. Every single Republican voted against it. Talk about peer pressure! I was hoping there might be one courageous soul on that side of the aisle.

I'm sure the vitriol isn't over. But as with the passing of Medicare that the Republicans strongly opposed but now couldn't live without, literally in some cases, so it will be with health care.

Our government may certainly be inefficient, but I personally am glad they run a post office, emergency services, schools, libraries, food inspection, and the military. Despite the huge task ahead, I'm sure all those who so vehemently opposed health care will soon find themselves or their loved ones in need of the benefits our great American government will provide them.

Today's Washington Post had an article encouraging folks to blog about their H1N1 flu symptoms. "They" are hoping to track flu trends. This Google link was described as being 2 weeks ahead of official word about flu trends. Here's some info for Maryland too.

Anyway, here's my family flu story. I hope it's my only one.

This past July (about the time of the MD peak of H1N1 so far) my 15 year old daughter flew on American Airlines to Abilene, Texas. She left healthy. Three days after she arrived, she started with a fever that went up to 103, and eventually added congestion, aches, lethargy. My friend took her to a clinic in Texas where she got a round of antibiotics that did nothing, adding to my suspicion that it was The Flu.

When she returned, I called my doctor to see if they wanted to check to see if it was H1N1. They said, "Oh, we don't do that. You'd have to go to an emergency room." So I called the local emergency room and they said, "Oh, we don't do that. You'd have to call your county's health department." So I called the health department and they said, "Oh, we don't do that. But there is one clinic that runs the test." I called that clinic and the young voice who answered said, "H what?"

So I just treated my daughter's symptoms and decided not to pursue it further. It took her about 10 days from the onset of symptoms to feel better. No one in my family or her friend's family in Texas got sick, although we were hand-washing and tissue Nazis.

Was it H1N1? In a way, I hope so. I hope we all have a bit of immunity now. Two of my kids have Crohn's Disease, which compromises the immune system. So I am worried about the predicted pandemic. I have it in the back of my mind that I could homeschool if I must.

I am reading a fascinating account of the killer flu pandemic of 1918 called "The Great Influenza." I highly recommend it, although I also recommend that you don't read it while eating. It is a sobering reminder that influenza, although usually mild, is not to be taken lightly.