I'd suggest that you don't. Non-tested vaccine for a flu that is not lethal (a research outside the mainstream news will convince you). In Greece, whoever has the flu, spends some days at home, and he's alright (no-one has died from it).

A bit off-topic, but I thought I should say it.

Dimitris:

The H1N1 is lethal.

USA data - As of August 28, 2009, 8,843 hospitalizations and 556 deaths (15 deaths in individuals 0-4 years, 86 deaths in individuals 5-24 years, 235 deaths in adults 25-49 years, 158 deaths in adults 50-64 years, 50 deaths in adults age 65 and older, and 12 deaths for which age was no reported) associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus have been identified by CDC and state and local public health departments.
CDC 2009 H1N1 Flu

Flu season is not even here yet.

Also disease management in a small country like Greece is probably much different than in the USA. Greece is smaller than the State of Virginia where I live. For that matter the whole of Western Europe is only the size of a few states in the USA, and the population of New York City & surrounding burroughs is double the whole country of Greece, so flu is managed much differently here.

Not sure how the medical system works out by you but up here in Canada (the land of universal healthcare - sort of...) when your window of opportunity comes up you GRAB it for surgery.

A good buddy of mine recently had to have back surgery which laid him up prior to the surgery due to the issue and following due to recuperation. I happily helped him out (sometimes solo, sometimes with him onsite directing) for a bit off my regular rate to "help a brother out". Yes, this was corporate work and not a wedding but the same "do unto others" mantra seems perfectly at home here ASSUMING you have someone in your circle of friends that you trust on two fronts:
-that they will do a great job
-AND that they won't steal your clientele by cross marketing their own business while working for you (a serious issue with some young freelancers in MY market)

Try calling in some favours and see what happens.

If you do this long enough, you're eventually going to miss one. You just need to do your best to get someone to cover it. I'm a big believer in networking with your competitors so you have someone to fall back on.

I've worked over 500 weddings (as a DJ and as a videographer) and I've only had to miss one because I was in the hospital with a bad case of mono. Fortunately, because of my network of friendly competitors, I only had to make one phone call to get that wedding covered.

Thanks for getting us back toward the original topic, Chris D.

Let's stick to the answering the OP's question and not diverge either into medical advice or the politics of health care delivery. The first topic is reserved for a discussion between him and his health care provider. And for the other there's a whole internet outside of DVinfo.

I'm just curious how many of you guys have back/shoulder pains after the gig. I woke up yesterday after 10 hrs of filmming and my whole right arm and shoulder was sore. Any remedies for that? Regular visits at local chiropractor/masseuse?

Regular trips to the gym might help something like that too. It could be that if you strengthen the shoulder you might have less fatigue after a shoot.

Now pardon me while I go have another cheese burger.

I started biking again too loose some weight and get more into the shape. But burgers ain't going away :-) Not on Labor Day weekend...

Ethan,

I have survived 5 knee operations, one which was major.. what you have sounds like a simple miniscus tear. Go see a doctor.. the surgery to fix should only put you out 2 or 3 weeks provided you do the rehab diligently. 2 of my surgeries were for that and I played in games (hockey) with in 14 days. The last I was 30 years old. That was 10 years ago and I still play 2 to 3 times a week.

If you don't have insurance, get on a stationary bike when it flares up.. nothing to strenuous but the repetitive motion will help wear down the protruding piece of cartlige.

Cheers,
Scott

I come from a news/ENG background and I've been able to carry big BetaCams/DVCPro/DVCam rigs on my shoulder all day without any issues. However shooting weddings with my Canon XH A1 and before that, my Canon XL1S, wrecks me. By the end of each season I get a pretty bad case of tendinitis. I wish manufacturers would make a more ergonomic camera.

I"m planning to start networking with competitors more, this year I had to deal with a bad back that really got me struggling through some weddings with a lot of pain. Even when I write this message I"m sick but have a wedding tomorrow. Usually it would take a truck to stop me from doing a wedding but my bad back got me thinking. What if... I don't want to call a bride in the morning telling her I can't make it. It's always safe to have some backup phonenrs you can call to get the job done anyway.

This issue struck a little close to home this week. I was pitching to my son in the batting cage when a line drive deflected off of the low ceiling of the cage but just over the screen I was standing behind. The ball struck me right smack in the right eye. Suffered 8 stitches to the eyelid, and a hematoma (internal bleeding) to the eye itself. Have had to visit the eye specialist each day since, and fortunately the situation is improving and I now have limited vision in my right eye, and the opthamalogist says I should fully recover my vision. Also fortunate in that I don't have any weddings booked to shoot over the next while. I do have two to finish editing, but it sure got me thinking about stuff... Even If I could see properly (I can't imagine critical focus on the 5d right now), I look like hell.