Here’s the scene.
I felt just fine Thursday evening. Joe and I thoroughly enjoyed some first-year reruns of the TV show “The Big Bang Theory.” (If you haven’t seen it, you simply must. It’s hilarious.)
I went to bed about 8:30, feeling normal.
At ten P.M. I woke up suddenly. Hmmm. Something definitely wasn’t right. I felt – very strange. And, there was an ominous familiarity about it.
No, NOT AGAIN!
That horrible vomit-virus was back!! The very one that had attacked me suddenly in late November, and landed me in Munson Hospital for two days. (See my late November column titled Malevolent Ghosts.) As soon as that thought crossed my cranium I scrambled out of bed, ran for the kitchen, grabbed a pot, ran for the bathroom, and was so, so sick. Oh lordy, I was sick. One more second’s hesitation and our new carpet would have been done.
I couldn’t keep any liquid down. Not even ice chips. Even hearing about food triggered another bout. Joe wanted to pop out for a quick hamburger, after hours of tending my miserable self, and when I heard ‘hamburger’ I lost it again.
This was crazy. Twice?? The last time, in Traverse City, I’d eaten my one meal and was cleaning up; then it pounced. A three-day nightmare followed.
This time, though, we were better prepared; Joe, a physician, had stocked up on Zofram, a dissolve-under-the-tongue prescription pill that stops the urge to vomit in seconds. This medicine really helped me the second time around. But, one pill was supposed to last about four hours. After initial relief, though, I needed it again after two.
I got more and more dehydrated. The pill supply ran low.
Eventually, it wouldn’t dissolve.
I was dry.
Joe admitted me to Saginaw’s Covenant Hospital Friday afternoon, where I was hooked up to an IV and gradually rehydrated. The IV form of Zofram was administered, which was more powerful, and worked much better. I slept the rest of Friday, all night, and all through today (Saturday). This morning I easily kept down a little yoghurt and an egg, and by 5 o’clock I wanted out, though I still have a slight temperature. Now I’m home, sipping pedialyte, and feeling a thousand percent better.
But I had no column prepared. So, now, on Saturday evening, I offer this hastily scribbled account, and another warning.
This virus is vicious. It dehydrates its victims so quickly that there can be general systemic collapse. It almost got me in November.
If you suspect this may be happening, Don’t Wait. Get help. Apparently it’s blanketed the North American continent. (See flunearyou.org)
I find myself nervously tiptoeing around proverbial corners, wondering if three times is the charm.
There is one good thing it offers, I suppose.
The victim loses weight fast.