If the doctor isn’t safe, then who is?

By now, famed Dr. Gupta is nearing, if not already achieved, recovery. But the question is, if the good doctor, who was once tapped to be the U.S.'s top doctor as Surgeon General but was smart enough to know he was better off not taking that job, is sick with the flu, and we all know he has been valiantly washing his hands, then, what chance do we have of avoiding it?

It's likely inevitable. You or the person next to you will get the flu. You or the person beside the person next to you, will have the swine flu. In our office, we Lysol continuously. We hand sanitize continuously. We cough into our elbows. And we probably still have the same chance we've always had of getting some dreaded germ. It's likely. It's possible. It's probable.

According to an online story, in his blog, "Paging Dr. Gupta," (check it out at http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com) he, along with a CNN cameraman traveling in his entourage, "picked up" the swine flu (H1N1 virus) while on a trip to Afghanistan. Picked up? Well put it down! That's the problem, he touched it!

The article continues: "Gupta says he rarely gets sick, but this time was hit so hard he had seek out a battlefield hospital for treatment." Lucky for him there was a battlefield hospital nearby! He goes on to say ... "there wasn't much the doctors could really do for me. Some Tylenol and a sinus decongestant ... We also got IV fluids, given our inability to keep anything down ... It was a lot like … the flu – with a different name."

And CBS's Harry Smith's been sick and a private school in Manning closed its doors to students and teachers for three days this past week, though not a confirmed case of the ole' H1N1 was reported. That school's officials said they closed because so many were sick with just regular old colds and the regular old usual flu.

To annihilate the germs, the story posted online said, officials were having all the surfaces, desks and door knobs at the school wiped down. Haven't they been doing that all along? So, like getting ready for a hurricane in the Atlantic nearby the Carolina Coast, I will go now and stock up on necessities to see me through my coming flu.

I will prepare, but in the end, if it's coming, it's coming.

Pain reliever and fever reducers: Check.

Grandma Lee's quilt for curling up under: Check.

Case of Coca Cola, the original recipe, preferably in 6.5 ounce bottles: Check.

Stack of movies from the 1980s not recently watched: Check.

Pedialyte: Check.

Magazines with tips on staying healthy and fit: Check.

Extra Flintstone's vitamins, chewable with extra vitamin C: Check. And ...

Campbell's Chicken noodle soup (the ultra salty one for flavor): Check.

Bring it on. I'm ready. Likely, I'm as ready as one of the nation's top neurosurgeons was before he became ill. Gupta's bout with the flu just shows you can know about staying healthy and germ free and still "pick up" something. You can understand how a brain works and how to operate on it and still be attacked by something that knocks you on your butt.

Yep, if Dr. Gupta's got the flu, I stand very little chance of not getting it.

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