Practice Management

Do Not Self-Diagnose Colds And Flus

By chucknewton

I ran into an attorney friend of mine today and told him I had not seen him in awhile.  He then told me that is because he has been in the hospital and at home for three weeks (not working) trying to recover from viral pneumonia.  (By the way, a lot of people do not survive it).  One of his problems was that he wrote flu like symptoms off as a very bad cold for too long.

I am neither a physician, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.  But, I do know that lawyers, and especially solos and home office lawyers, too often rely on self-diagnoses of colds and flus because they have a hard time getting away or paying for a proper diagnosis.  Do not let this happen.

A common cold usually presents itself with a runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and a low grade fever.  The flu is caused by the influenza viruses.  The best protection from the flu is getting a flu shot every year.  It is good to get a pneumonia shot every few years as well.  Do not get too busy and forget to do this.  Everybody in your family and your staff need to be vaccinated as well.  You might think you cannot afford the time or the money, but you will be thankful when you do not lose weeks of work and have thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

There are also anti-viral medications that a doctor can give you to shorten the symptoms of the flu or a virus if they catch it fast enough.

Over one billion cases of the common cold occur in the United States each year. Some 200 virus have been said to cause the common cold. Rhinovirus causes most of the cases, but other viruses such as corona virus and adenovirus can also cause the common head cold.

The problem is that many people and many lawyers get a bad case of the crud (yes, that is a medical term, look it up), and think they have the flu.  They do not, and then later they judge their ability to deal with these symptoms from this experience.  The flu is a much more severe illness.  You can suffer very bad headaches, very high fever, severe muscle pain, extreme fatigue, and severe cough. If you have ever experienced the flu, believe me, you know how different.

So, to all of those solos, carpet commuters, spare room tycoons, future lawyers, connected lawyers, shingle hangers, practice builders, and Third Wavers all, please be careful and take care of yourselves.  If not for yourself, then for your friends, family and clients.

Full post as published by Chuck Newton on January 19, 2008 (boomark / email).