We were all on a powerful deadline when our early December bout with the flu landed. Chicago’s One of A Kind Show and Sale was days away and it’s a biggie for us. It’s a massive investment in time and resources and we have to be able to sell, sell, sell to the crowd of 75,000 attendees over a period of four days to recoup our dollars. And selling means on our feet 10 hours a day and talking, talking, talking.

It was time to call in Katie Speh from our local Southtown Health Food Store. We love our doctors: integrative, chiropractic and TCM – but when it comes to OTC remedies and the smarts to know what to grab, we always turn to Katie Mahler Speh for the best there is. (more…)

If you see Oscillococcinum on the shelf at a pharmacy or your local drug store, grab a box or two. It addresses flu symptoms, which you’ll have plenty of, and it eases things up a great deal.

Though I hadn’t had the flu in forever, I knew enough to jump on Ocillococinum as soon as I felt the first tickle in my nose and body ache in early December. The tiny little glass vials of homeopathic pellets work wonders. If you take them fast enough. When you can find them. (more…)

Okay, I thought I was invincible. The great thing about using functional medicine to stop autoimmune disease in its tracks is you rarely get sick. Really, I haven’t had the flu or a head cold or an upper respiratory infection or even a sore throat is so many years that I didn’t remember what to do. When I got all of the above. All at the same time. This year.

Grain free, sugar free, soy free, dairy free. You know how we roll here at the Rose Cottage. That’s why you never invite us to your home for dinner. Right? Well, this year that many years-long discipline failed us. When the flu rolled in. And we hadn’t made a plan.

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