The Noro-virus and Me

Yep, that's right. Yours truly got struck down by the noro-virus. I don't even know if that's supposed to be two words, but I also don't care enough to check. For those who have been living under a rock and don't know what noro is, it's a horrible bug that, from what I've read, is a contagious form of food poisoning that causes severe abdominal aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. I can't imagine not remembering the date it happened to me, because it was pretty damn traumatic I must tell you. It was January 23rd and I remembered getting a piece of fried chicken from Lawson (the local convenience store). I took it home, chopped it up and put it in a salad. By the way, I'm telling you this because I'm pretty sure I got the virus from the chicken. Anyway, I was sitting there watching a concert on my computer and I started getting some abdominal cramping. It was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing too strange and my first thought was that it was from the carbonation of a drink I had. I decided to call it a night, as it was already 1:30am. As I laid there, I realized the cramping was getting worse. It was horribly uncomfortable and I knew it was gonna be difficult getting to sleep. Next thing I know, it's nearing 3am, stomach is still hurting but now I felt the need to use the bathroom. I get in there and it was, pardon the frankness, diarrhea. I found this a bit odd because I hadn't had anything spicy and at this point I wasn't even thinking of the norov-virus. I laid back down and repeated this diarrhea madness a couple more times, every hour or so. Now it's around 5am, still no sleep and now I start feeling nauseous.

Let me point out that I haven't been sick, vomited, in years. Seriously, years. This nausea was pretty strong and usually, whenever I feel this way, I can repress it. Deep breathes. However, this was definitely different. I had to sit on the bowl and the next thing I know, vomit is forcing it's way out. Luckily, I have this little bucket close by the toilet. I just had a feeling I'd be needing it and boy did it come in handy. I realize how gross this story is by the way. It's not lost on me. So yeah, this insanity continued and at this point it's nearly 8am. No sleep was had and I knew that I wouldn't be in any shape to teach classes that day. I've been sick before here but I've never called in sick and missed classes. This particular week I was covering (no surprise), for another teacher at their school, so I didn't feel as guilty. My boss was pretty understanding for the most part. I could tell he really would've preferred me to work (as did I), but if he could've seen the horror going on, he would've given in right away. My neighbor, who also happens to be a coworker of mine, was kind enough to bring me some sports drink and light edibles, crackers and that sort. Thank God for her or I would've had to crawl to the store, devoid of energy, shitting myself along the way. I really had no appetite and it was difficult to keep even water down. There's no cure for this virus, as doctors recommend bed rest and drinking plenty of clear fluids.

It took a couple of days before I could even eat a little bit of food. I was mostly living off of a liquid diet of water and sports drink. Truth be told, it took a solid 5 or 6 days before I really felt like myself again. That virus really took me to the mat. So, that's my story and all I can say is that I sincerely hope you or anyone you know doesn't get it. Oh, and I'm aware of the lack of pictures being posted as of late. I've been lazy taking pictures period. I'll try and rectify that.

Strawberry soda. Not great.

Devil Hot Pringles. Not bad.