ATTENTION: Wash Your Hands...

...Especially after using the bathroom. I have been sick with some gastrointestinal virus and I have never experienced anything like this in my life. It all began with a horrible headache last Saturday and then shortly after the bodily fluids began exiting the body faster than I could keep them in. I am still not sure if the headache has anything to do with the later part but it all sucked. I went to the Doctor and after a stool sample and two days of waiting for those results that came back with nothing, I have a nice bill from them. When I went into the doctor’s office I was so dehydrated that they gave me 2 liters of fluids and they soon exited my body after leaving the office. Luckily my mom came this last Wednesday and stayed until yesterday she was seriously a huge help. See Daryl left on Wednesday for a Conference until yesterday and the night before he left I knew I couldn't take care of Paiglee and me all on my own. So Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning) I called my mom at 1am she decided she was coming. I was so thankful she came to help me; I literally was doing all I could to take care of myself. The worst night was Thursday night I was on the verge of taking myself to the ER here in Rock Springs. And if any of you know Rock Springs ER, things had to be pretty bad for me to consider going, I seriously felt I was going to die on my bed or in the hospital, I chose my bed. Thursday night was the first night that I slept through the night without waking up and running to the bathroom. The exiting of body fluids has stopped and last night I didn't wake up once until 7am. With all said I have lost 8 pounds and I am still counting, this stuff is serious stuff. This bacterium did a number on my lower intestines. Yesterday was the first day I could eat but I read online that with this stuff you should start with things that are easy for your stomach and GI tract. So I am just eating toast eggs and rice and lots of fluids. So in a week I have lost 8 pounds and a majority of it was lost from Tuesday thru Friday. I am still losing and expect I will until my body returns to normal. Although the headache is manageable and the bum issue is done, I still am weak and exhausted. I can't do simple tasks like walking up my stairs or showering without feeling I am about to pass out. I begin to shake and get cold sweats and tingly if I do too much and I become light headed. I breathe hard and have to take lots of breaks to accomplish a huge task such as a shower. Climbing the stairs makes my muscles ache like I just lifted a ton and I usually have to sit down when finished. I can't eat a ton at one sitting I get nauseated if I even try or think about it. Since yesterday I have been trying to eat every two hours to keep something in my stomach my choice of things are egg on toast or rice with salt and butter and only a 1/2 cup at a time. I do still feel yucky it comes and goes it is like a wave and when I say yucky I mean like I will have an intense wave of nausea and pure exhaustion come 0ver me I just have to breath through it and wait for it to pass. I have found that if I stay on top of my liquid intake it helps a ton. Liquids are a huge part of this, when I was crapping a ton I was losing liters of liquids with my bathroom visits. One day I kept track of my liquids the best I could and I consumed 300+ oz. of liquid, this is more than double of what I should. And yes I know people can get ill from consuming too much water but this was what I had to do to keep water in me. It was not fun I do not wish this on anyone. I am sure it will take another week to gain strength back and to just feel normal, I don't know how long it will take for the food situation to improve. I mean I have tried a few new things in the diet and my stomach gets a little crampy and feels almost upset so I am sticking with simple things that are easy for my GI tract to digest. I have a feeling because of this I will continue to lose weight. Dairy is a big no.

But pretty much I have been a train wreck this last week I have barely left my house. I am ready for my old self back. Poor Paiglee was thrilled to see her daddy last night she couldn't stop jumping, I don't blame her she was stuck with a very sick mommy and a grandma that didn't know her way around town to take her anywhere. Daryl has cleaned the whole house grocery shopped and played with Paiglee since he has been home. He is amazing! It feels like home with him here now, although my mom was a huge help and amazing, it just didn't feel like home with Daryl gone. I am also glad I am not as bad as a few days ago. I am so glad I am halfway done with this junk.

I guess this stuff is common but guess what I don't ever want it again, I think if I ever get it again I will cry, because I know how long I have ahead of me before I get better. At least when I didn't really know I could hope tomorrow would be a better day. I don't do sick well at all. I can hope that this is my sickness for the year but I doubt it. While sick I was watching the news and saw a kid in the hospital bed with the Swine flu and it made me tired to think of getting sick after this.

I caught this from someone who probably didn't wash their hands after going potty, or changing a diaper or who spit on something and I touched it. Because you can only get this by coming into contact with someone's spit or bowel specimen, because they didn't wash their hands. They of course have to be carrying the bacteria but still, isn't good practice to wash your hands after every bathroom visit.

You know through this ordeal I went to the bathroom probably 30+ times in one day. I also washed my hands after each of those bathroom visits. This lead to very dry and scaly cracked hands but it is worth it not to spread the gunk around. So I figure if someone who is crapping themselves this much a day and who has little to no energy or strength can do it, can't a healthy functioning person do it. You would think. So do the world a favor and WASH YOUR HANDS, especially with all the stuff going around.