Recently, one of our community partners, Karen Oslund, reminded us that cancer isn’t taking a break just because we’re in the midst of a pandemic. Karen is the executive director of the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County and she has a front-row seat to the devastation cancer can cause for individuals and everyone who loves them.

Her comment got us thinking about how hard it is to convince ourselves that now is the time to do preventive care. Even in the best of times—and these are not the best of times—most of us are really good at coming up with reasons why we can wait until tomorrow or next week (or never) to make an appointment for our annual exam or a cancer screening we know we need. Until we have symptoms, we believe we’ll always have more time.

When the coronavirus hit last spring, many of us thought we’d hold our breath until it was over, figuratively speaking. Well, this is lasting longer than most of us expected, and putting life on hold until it’s over doesn’t seem like such a good strategy anymore.

With that in mind, if you have a little extra time on your hands, what better time to schedule an appointment than now? At Mendocino Coast Clinics, we can help you figure out how to afford the care you need, so don’t let that be a barrier.

During an annual check-up, a medical provider will review your family health history, your lifestyle, your age, your emotional state, and your physical condition. With this information, they can let you know which screenings you need and how to decrease your risk of developing chronic illnesses. The simple act of taking your vital signs allows a medical provider to determine whether you’re at risk for common diseases like hypertension. Routine screening serve an important purpose. There is strong science behind the reason that the recommendations are made.

There is no magic number to determine when you’ll start having health problems, but people older than 50 are at higher risk for many illnesses, so once you hit that age, it’s smart to keep an eye on things like blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, colorectal health, and bone density, among other things. Men should also monitor their prostate function and women should become familiar with menopause symptoms. Your medical provider will likely also recommend getting vaccinated for the flu, pneumonia, and shingles.

If you’re thinking, “I feel fine. I don’t need to see a doctor,” you may be right; however, there are some serious health problems that can go undetected for a long time unless you’re looking for them. For example, many types of cancer don’t have noticeable symptoms until the cancer has spread. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, this is a great time for women to go get a mammogram. Most breast cancer, like many types of cancer, is highly treatable when discovered early. Hypertension is another condition that usually doesn’t exhibit symptoms until it has progressed to the point of putting patients at risk.

We’re living in stressful times right now. Why not schedule an appointment for an annual check-up to put your mind at ease and get the care you need to stay strong and healthy now and into the future?

As cooler weather approaches, most of us will start spending even more time indoors, and experts tell us this could cause an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases. In related news, flu season is on its way. Just another kick in the teeth from 2020, a year many of us would like to leave behind.

The good news is there are steps we can all take to reduce our risk of both COVID-19 and the influenza virus, and the precautions for one also reduce our risk of the other: wearing masks, remaining socially distant, washing our hands regularly, and limiting contact with people as much as possible. Although we must wait for a COVID-19 vaccine to become available, we can get our flu shot right now.

You may be thinking, if we’re all wearing masks and staying socially distant, why do we need a vaccine? There are several reasons. First, the flu is far more prevalent than the coronavirus and therefore, it is likely to spread to more people. Although you may wear masks at work and in public, you probably don’t wear them at home where people pass viruses back and forth all the time. And if you have children, your chances of getting the flu just went up.

Some people don’t get the flu shot because the vaccine is only 40-50 percent effective. But even if the vaccine protects only half the people who receive it, that means a very large number of people will not be spreading it to others. Also, people who get the vaccine typically have milder flu symptoms and are less likely to require hospitalization or to die from a complication of the illness. During the 2019-2020 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “estimates that influenza was associated with 38 million illnesses, 18 million medical visits, 405,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths.”

Really, the only people who should not get the flu shot are babies younger than six months old and adults with allergic reactions. Just to be clear, many people experience a minor immune response to the vaccine—this is not an allergic reaction. If you feel tired and a little sick after getting the flu shot, this is actually not a bad thing according to Mendocino Coast Clinics Medical Director Dr. Lawrence Goldyn. These are the signs that your immune system is revving up. Just to put your mind at ease, according to the CDC, in recent years only 33 individuals out of 25 million vaccines given had a serious allergic reaction. So, it is extremely rare.

If you are pregnant or immuno-compromised, it is important to mention this to the person providing the flu shot. The nasal spray typically given to children is not safe for people who are immuno-compromised because the vaccine contains a little bit of live virus.

Overall, getting the flu shot is likely to prevent you from getting the flu or at least reduce your symptoms, and that will not only make you feel better but also slow the spread of the flu. Also, if you get the flu shot and later experience flu-like symptoms, your medical provider may be better able to diagnose you with coronavirus rather than the flu, saving valuable time.

Much is still unknown about the coronavirus, but we do know that people who get the flu are often more susceptible to secondary infections. It is possible that getting COVID-19 could increase our chances of contracting the flu or vice versa. It’s best to do what we can to prevent infection, and that means getting a flu shot.

The flu vaccine is proven safe and effective and every medical provider I know gets vaccinated every year (and insists their loved ones do the same). Here at Mendocino Coast Clinics, Dr. Goldyn insists that every member of the staff get the flu shot unless the employee has a medical history that makes it dangerous—a very rare occurrence.

Please, for your own health and the health of our whole community, go get a flu shot!