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In many ways I am very much like my mother. For instance, we both get shoulders of steel when we're stressed out, we both get cranky when we're hungry, we're both ridiculously easily amused. And my mother says "it takes an act of congress" to get her to throw up, which seems to be true for me as well. I threw up for the first time when I was four, and then not again until I was eight. After that I threw up at age twelve, and got deathly ill at age fifteen (that was the time I lost ten or twelve pounds in three days). But besides those distinct four instances, I never ever ever throw up (that doesn't count the three times I've had too much to drink and thrown up the alcohol).
So I went to bed yesterday morning around 3 am and expected to sleep in to a comfortable hour, like noon. Instead I woke up at 5:30 wondering why I felt like crap. I curled into the fetal position at the foot of my bed, then decided maybe I'd better move to the bathroom, so I curled into the fetal position in front of the shower. I didn't really expect to throw up; I think my sleepy brain was planning on taking a calming hot shower as soon as I figured out what was wrong with me.
And then the vomiting began. Since I never, ever, ever throw up, this alarmed me quite a bit. After throwing up twice I sent a panicked text message to my mother, begging her for help, because even though there was nothing left in my stomach I couldn't stop heaving. I drank a glass of water and then threw that up too. After a couple of hours (and I did end up taking a shower, because I'd managed to ...dirty... myself...) I fell back into an exhausted sleep in my bed, stomach empty and unhappy.
My mom called and woke me up around 11:30. She recommended that I take it easy and drink clear fluids. I felt terrible but managed to make a small nest in the living room, where I watched three episodes of Scrubs and drank maybe half a glass of water. Then I threw up. Of course, there was nothing in my stomach for me TO throw up, so I mostly vomited the small amount of water I'd had, plus what was left of my stomach acid, and then heaved for ten minutes. My face was sweating and I was crying. At this point, I was pretty sure I needed actual help, so I contacted my med student friend and he said I should probably go to urgent care. I called the health center and they told me to come in... So Emily and Andrew, who were on their way over with ginger ale and bread, gathered me into Emily's car and took me to Urgent Care.
Apparently a particularly nasty gastrointestinal non-flu bug has been going around, and this is what I'd contracted. They put an IV in me and started fluids, then gave me Phenergen (an anti-nausea medication), which promptly knocked me out. Emily and Andrew left after a while, and after my second IV bag and about three hours of sleeping on an exam table, the doctors asked if I wanted to go home. I told them I lived alone and they freaked out and fairly demanded that I stay overnight. I weakly agreed.
They moved me upstairs to the ICF (inpatient care facility) and gave me another IV bag and left me to my own devices. I dozed for a while, but started to feel better about the time Emily brought me some books. I chatted with her for a while, then went back to sleep. I woke up a few times during the night, mostly still too weak to do anything but roll over, but definitely much better than yesterday afternoon. Eventually I managed to get a few solid hours of sleep. They woke me up at 7:15 this morning to take out the IV after the fourth bag finished, then brought me some breakfast. I almost laughed when the tray came in. It consisted of hot water and a teabag, a small carton of apple juice, and a jello-like thing. After I managed to drink the tea one of the nurses brought me a plain bagel and I ate half of that. I was terribly proud of myself.
Emily got me at about 9, and now here I am at home, doing much better but still a little weak. And my left hand seems to be a bit swollen; it's probably just a side effect of having had the IV in my elbow and my arm straight for sixteen hours.
Anyway, that was lots of fun. If you count being completely unable to sit up, using a bed pan, and spending the night in an infirmary with a needle in my arm fun.
Thank god for health insurance.
I think I'm gonna go lie on the floor some more now.
So I went to bed yesterday morning around 3 am and expected to sleep in to a comfortable hour, like noon. Instead I woke up at 5:30 wondering why I felt like crap. I curled into the fetal position at the foot of my bed, then decided maybe I'd better move to the bathroom, so I curled into the fetal position in front of the shower. I didn't really expect to throw up; I think my sleepy brain was planning on taking a calming hot shower as soon as I figured out what was wrong with me.
And then the vomiting began. Since I never, ever, ever throw up, this alarmed me quite a bit. After throwing up twice I sent a panicked text message to my mother, begging her for help, because even though there was nothing left in my stomach I couldn't stop heaving. I drank a glass of water and then threw that up too. After a couple of hours (and I did end up taking a shower, because I'd managed to ...dirty... myself...) I fell back into an exhausted sleep in my bed, stomach empty and unhappy.
My mom called and woke me up around 11:30. She recommended that I take it easy and drink clear fluids. I felt terrible but managed to make a small nest in the living room, where I watched three episodes of Scrubs and drank maybe half a glass of water. Then I threw up. Of course, there was nothing in my stomach for me TO throw up, so I mostly vomited the small amount of water I'd had, plus what was left of my stomach acid, and then heaved for ten minutes. My face was sweating and I was crying. At this point, I was pretty sure I needed actual help, so I contacted my med student friend and he said I should probably go to urgent care. I called the health center and they told me to come in... So Emily and Andrew, who were on their way over with ginger ale and bread, gathered me into Emily's car and took me to Urgent Care.
Apparently a particularly nasty gastrointestinal non-flu bug has been going around, and this is what I'd contracted. They put an IV in me and started fluids, then gave me Phenergen (an anti-nausea medication), which promptly knocked me out. Emily and Andrew left after a while, and after my second IV bag and about three hours of sleeping on an exam table, the doctors asked if I wanted to go home. I told them I lived alone and they freaked out and fairly demanded that I stay overnight. I weakly agreed.
They moved me upstairs to the ICF (inpatient care facility) and gave me another IV bag and left me to my own devices. I dozed for a while, but started to feel better about the time Emily brought me some books. I chatted with her for a while, then went back to sleep. I woke up a few times during the night, mostly still too weak to do anything but roll over, but definitely much better than yesterday afternoon. Eventually I managed to get a few solid hours of sleep. They woke me up at 7:15 this morning to take out the IV after the fourth bag finished, then brought me some breakfast. I almost laughed when the tray came in. It consisted of hot water and a teabag, a small carton of apple juice, and a jello-like thing. After I managed to drink the tea one of the nurses brought me a plain bagel and I ate half of that. I was terribly proud of myself.
Emily got me at about 9, and now here I am at home, doing much better but still a little weak. And my left hand seems to be a bit swollen; it's probably just a side effect of having had the IV in my elbow and my arm straight for sixteen hours.
Anyway, that was lots of fun. If you count being completely unable to sit up, using a bed pan, and spending the night in an infirmary with a needle in my arm fun.
Thank god for health insurance.
I think I'm gonna go lie on the floor some more now.
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 06:09 pm (UTC)From:Anyway, I'm glad you're feeling a little better now! Just take it easy and get better! Love you sees...