To Hell and Back In 24 Hours

The best we can tell, Alex picked up a 24-hour stomach flu from daycare last Monday. He didn't get sick until last Tuesday evening, and couldn't keep any milk down until Wednesday evening, right after we saw his doctor to make sure he wasn't dangerously dehydrated. We finally broke through by feeding him Pedialyte, which he kept down all night, plus some milk.

Last Thursday morning, I woke up feeling very nauseous. It was pretty easy to see where this was heading. Sure enough by mid-morning I was absolutely miserable. Our tried and true babysitter and friend Jane actually came over to pick up Alex (and probably to check up on me too). I was in a baaaad way all day, and Dana came home early from work to take care of me. As I've said many times before, she is an angel. I am so happy that she is in my life, and that she is the mother of my son. We're both lucky to have her.

One of the worst feelings is being so completely helpless, as I was for all of last Thursday and most of Friday. I thought how horrifying it would be to not know what was wrong with me, or to not know how long it would last. Fortunately in my case I knew it would all be better within 36 hours, but that was small comfort in the throes of whatever ugly little virus had hold of my stomach and intestines. The worst part of it was not being able to step up and contribute to my family's well being or functioning. This may surprise you, but raising Alex takes a considerable amount of work, and while I was sick I could do almost none of it. I became lightheaded standing up and moving around for more than a few seconds, and without any liquids during 90-100 degree days, I was in trouble. On top of that, missing even more work put my job on hold. If this kept up I would not be a bread-winner, but a bread-loser. This really makes the case to me for life and long-term disability insurance on a practical level.

I turned the corner late on Thursday night when I managed to gulp down some fast-acting liquid maximum-strength Tylenol. Somehow I kept that stuff down long enough for it to absorb. Within an hour, my 100+ degree fever was gone and I was able to sit comfortably. I even got a nap in.

By Friday evening, I felt good enough to go out to the Derby Grill for a burger with Alex and Dana, although I only ate half of my Duke -- and absolutely NO Busch this time around!!

Now this week, everyone's healthy. Yay!

Dana has begun her second year of law school at DU, taking Constitutional Law and Patents. Her schedule this Fall is more forgiving than the previous two semesters. She is only in class Mondays and Wednesdays from about 6-9pm.

We are planning to switch Alex from daycare to a nanny. The 1-on-1 attention will be good for him I think, and he will not be exposed to thousands of bugs every week. That will give us a chance to stay healthy through the long fall and winter months. We can re-evaluate the situation next year.