I've decided not to get the flu shot. I think either decision would have been reasonable. But I have no breathing troubles, so I'm less worried about the respiratory effects of the flu, if I catch it; and I do think it's likely that it was exposure to H1N1 that sent my immune system into its current state of paranoia in the first place. So it seems risky to me to give my already irritated immune system more excuses to go nuts on me.

Like I say, I can see it both ways, and if someone says he or she is more worried about flu-induced pneumonia than about the shot--that seems sensible to me, too. In the end, there are just too many unknowns for any decision to be obviously the right one. If I had any trouble breathing, catching the flu would seem to me to be the risk most worth attending to.

My husband and five kids have all had a messy, messy cold and cough for a week. Me: not a sniffle. I really do think of my immune system as a trigger-happy conspiracy theorist. Yes, it's attacking my thyroid and my acetylcholine receptors--but hey, it does an excellent job against those germs!

Abby