Sick

Yesterday afternoon I didn't feel well at work. No big deal or so I thought. I didn't sleep well the previous night and thought that might have been a part of it. So, I made it through the day, got home, and went to bed.

At 6 pm.

Yeah, I felt pretty crappy by yesterday afternoon and it is a rare day when I want to go to sleep that early (even if I was on a midnight shift!). Needless to say, it went downhill from there. I'll just say that this is a stomach virus that cleaned everything out from Christmas Dinner 1997 or some other date several years back.

I have been blessed with good health. In the 10 or so years that I've been working for my unnamed employer, I've only had to take off two...well, three now...sick days. That's not to say that I haven't been sick in the past. I have. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) the other times I have been sick have been when I've already had days off and could recuperate without losing time at work. Those times were different though. I could go to the doctor and get some antibiotics, cough suppressant, and allergy medicine and feel fine in two or three days. Not this time. It also doesn't help in that I have NO clue where I picked this thing up. For all I know, it could be waiting for me at work when I go back there tomorrow.

Stomach viruses are bad. No medicine helps. Gotta wait for the gastrointestinal tract to "reset" itself. No food for the first 24 hours and possibly longer. Good luck trying to keep down liquids, and BTW, no tasty beverages only clear stuff. Once that time has elapsed you can TRY food, but only bland food. Spicy enchiladas are out of the question for a while. If you can handle the bland stuff, you can start to add more flavorful entries as time goes by. Hopefully in 1 to 3 days, and hopefully not 3 to 5 days, you will be back to your normal self! Or so the doctor says.

But there are other side effects. I slept...well, laid in bed with some sleep here and there...for 15 hours so now I don't feel like doing anything. Then there is soreness from muscles that I didn't even know existed but got used in abundance early this morning. I also can't forget the aversion of looking at, forget smelling, food which I'll have to do when I go to the grocery store to get the aforementioned clear liquids and bland food. Worst of all is that I'm going home this weekend and if my digestive tract isn't back to 100%, I'll have to miss out on mom's home cookin'.

Yup, it's official. Being sick sucks.