There seems to be a “bug” going around in Vegas recently, causing a short-term illness rather than the extended one which plagued us in the winter. They are calling it a 24-hour flu virus, but it usually floors you for three days. The first day you just feel bad and don’t know why. The second day you are flat in bed in-between the bathroom trips on which you don’t know which end has a more pressing need. On the 3rd day, the frequent bathroom trips are over, but you are so sore and exhausted you think you were run over by a semi.

I just finished with my three-day ordeal and feel okay, but Brad’s hit him when we were at Ellis Island this evening. He had been dragging all day and had felt a little nauseated but ate some chicken noodle soup and said he was feeling a little better. So we decided to do our monthly play because Sunday is a 6X point day. After about 20 minutes, Brad suddenly jumped up from his machine, took two steps, and then crumpled to the floor in silence. I was sure he had suffered another heart attack. I yelled for security. 

Then the most amazing thing happened – nothing. The customers kept playing their machines. The dealer at the empty craps table just looked at him …  like … people lying on the floor of the casino was just routine … like ...  “Oh, just another Ellis Island drunk.” 

After a minute Brad did get up on his own and recovered enough equilibrium to stagger to the restroom. I went to the pit where I finally was able to find a couple of security guards -- with no help from the crap dealer who was still just standing guard at his empty table. The guards were efficient. One went to the restroom to see if Brad was doing okay while the other helped me gather up my belongings –- and the couple of thousand dollars I almost forgot to punch out of our machines.

By now I was pretty sure Brad wasn’t having a heart attack but had probably caught the same “bug” from which I had just recovered. The guards said he was finished vomiting but too dizzy to walk so they brought him a wheelchair. They gave me his keys, one guard escorted me to the car, and then I drove around to pick him up at the door. 

I had driven a car my whole adult life, but when Brad retired 19 years ago I rarely took the wheel; he was a willing chauffeur wherever I needed or wanted to go. It’s our joke that Brad has to be dying to let me drive. I hadn’t been behind the wheel for years when in 2003 I drove him to the doctor’s office where he was found to be in the middle of a heart attack and was sent by ambulance right to the hospital.  

Anyway, I got us home all right – so I guess I haven’t forgotten that skill. Now I will get a chance to polish up my nursing skills to help Brad through the next couple days.

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I have good news I couldn’t wait to report, so I am writing this through foggy vision.  All my lab tests came back negative. Brad says dodging this bullet beats all the good luck we have ever had in a casino. 

One short frugal tip: If you haven’t ever got around to joining the Wynn players club, there is a great new-member bonus going on right now. Earn just 25 points and you get one free buffet; earn 50 points and get two. You can choose to use these at the most expensive meal offered. And there may be more perks with further points -- just ask. One warning: Slot club-joining bonuses come and go with no warning, so you should always check in advance by phone before you make a special trip. 

I have the surgery on my left eye tomorrow and hopefully I will be seeing clearly enough to be back to regular blogging soon.

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Hopefully you don’t know from personal experience that this year’s flu season has dished up some particularly nasty flu strains, some that weren’t included in this year’s flu shots. Brad and I have been lucky and missed it, but it seems that almost every visitor we have had from out of town in the last three months has reported being ghastly ill when they returned home. 

Who knows where they got the bug. In a casino? In a restaurant?Maybe they didn’t get enough sleep and their resistance was low. Maybe -- even very likely -- they caught it on the flight to here or back home. That re-circulated air can be a killer germ spreader!  

In any case, I recommend that everyone get a flu shot before they come to Vegas. No, it’s not too late. The flu season lasts right through March and the federal Centers for Disease Control have named Nevada part of a regional flu outbreak. I urge people to use good sense, even though Vegas temptations are not always healthy. Eat regularly and nutritiously. Get plenty of sleep. Take frequent breaks to get out of smokey casinos. Go easy on the free alcohol. 

However, if you do get sick while you are in Vegas, I would like to give you some resources that might make your visit more pleasant. There are now three Walgreens drugstores on the Strip, one just north of the Stratosphere, one across from the ghost of the Stardust, and one north of the MGM Grand.  

CVS has two stores, one near Circus Circus and the other just north of New York-New York. This last one might be particularly valuable to remember because it has a MinuteClinic, where you can see Board-certified practitioners, like physician assistants (PA's). They don’t require appointments and can diagnose and treat many non-emergency medical problems, including writing prescriptions. These mini-clinics are being added in many Walgreens and CVS pharmacies all over town. Check the Yellow Pages or online for their locations and hours.

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What a week this has been. First, the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, at 700 Shadow Lane, was closed for unsterile injection practices, and 40,000 of us former patients received a letter from the Health District recommending that we get blood tests for hepatitis B and C, and HIV. Then yesterday came the suspension of the licenses of three additional clinics run by the same doctors who own the Endoscopy Center, two at 4275 Burnham Ave. and one at 5915 S. Rainbow Blvd. 

Now I realize that these jokers have had not two but THREE shots (pardon the pun) at getting me. 

Then there was the ricin scare at an extended-stay motel, just a bit over a mile as the crow flies from our condo. 

Tomorrow I go in for eye surgery, removing the cataract from my right eye and correcting the astigmatism. On the 19th I am scheduled for the same on my left eye. I know this is a very routine procedure. But I wonder if they would mind if I asked to look around the clinic a bit before they put me under. 

As they say – just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you!

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