Quarantine!

Joy of joys, B has just awakened with the same symptoms that I have... which means he can't preach today. There's no way.

I've been up twice in the night already, but at least the phenergan is allowing me to sleep for a time. I did have some veg pho broth last night and it was, I swear, almost the best thing I've ever tasted - but alas, it only stayed with my until this morning. Makes me hope I'm never stranded somewhere without food or water, a la "Survivorman."

I'm fairly certain I won't be at work tomorrow.

Update...

OK, so because there were NO signs whatsoever that things were improving, I talked to my doc in Fremont - who told me to go the nearest Urgent Care Clinic or ER. Since I knew any Urgent Care would have a much less wait time, I chose the one where I'd gone last year when I had the initial allergy stuff a year ago February and which, incidentally, is the nearest one.

My hunch paid off. There were only 2 people ahead of me, instead of 36 loud, obnoxious ones in an ER waiting room. Of course, I had to use the bathroom - twice! - while waiting, but still. When I recounted my symptoms and said that when I could actually HEAR and FEEL my intestines moving, I knew I had to run to the bathroom, he put his scope to my abdomen and said that it was definitely active. So my armchair diagnosis was correct: the doc confirmed a "severe case" of gastroenteritis. Yee haw. He wrote a script for phenergan - although the suppositories would be more effective, that's not very practical right now. He was also surprised that I can't even keep water down - suggests that I continue with clear liquids, though, and said I can even add a little lemon to water or broth. B is off to get some pho broth for me. Maybe I can absorb a few nutrients from it.

There's nothing really other to do - can't give an antibiotic and hopefully the phenergan will knock the nausea/vomiting and allow me to start eating something, anything... the last "food" I've had to eat was an artichoke on Thursday evening. Doc thinks I'm actually still out "a few days" and that I need to stay on a bland diet for a bit even when I can handle solids again, so I don't know that I'll be able to make it to work on Monday.

Could be worse, though - I could be in the middle of a migraine or on my period. So see, I am an optimist. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!

2 things that should never happen at the same time

OK, so I awoke around 3 am with intestinal rumblings that I could both hear and feel.
At first I thought it was a manifestation of migraine, as I had one of those, too. But since the vomiting and watery diarrhea are still present as I type this, I'm convinced it's some sort of gastroenteritis. I'd've thought that all the "stuff" in my GI tract has been eliminated, but apparently not. How long can this last? Since I don't have any pedialyte, I did find the random bottle of gatorade in the frig, so I'm sipping that - my muscles are aching from mineral depletion. Needless to say, I stayed home from work today.

I'm ok for about 10-15 minutes before the waves start building again. And let's not even talk about the challenge of experiencing both AT THE SAME TIME. Oh, yeah. Mostly they've been kind enough to at least give me time to be one-after-the-other and shift position, but all-together-now, Lord have mercy.

(At this point, I can picture my sister both laughing and saying, "aw, poor baby")

And... it's B's birthday! He is celebrating by giving a funeral 3 hours away for a congregation member who died last weekend of a burst aneurysm.

Woo hoo! Happy Friday!

A blessed Resurrection.

A busy week....

So Kym came for her birthday and we had a great time! Since I'm working now, it just worked out that we ate out all meals except breakfast. Breakfasts were made for us every day, though, so we didn't even have to put out any effort there, either, except to chow down. :-)

I was really worried about when she'd get here on Monday because she kept getting delayed at home - but she made it in time to pick me up from work, and presented me with a new book, "Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street," which features a picture of Oscar the Grouch, so I immediately launched into "I Love Trash!" :-) We then went to sushi for dinner. and she was sufficiently impressed by the freshness of the food at the sushi bar, so I'd say it was a success. The only drawback was the group at the bar next to us, whose conversation was too loud for its topics.

Tuesday was her actual birthday, so we awoke to a birthday breakfast of blueberry pancakes and yogurt with mangos and raspberries. I had to go to work, but she came and picked me up for her birthday lunch, where we went to my favorite (so far) Indian resto in Fresno ... then that night we had Thai in the Tower District before going to the Tower Theatre for the Ladysmith Black Mambazo show. Dinner was fun and the show was great, and I loved having her here, so I hope Kym enjoyed her birthday, too!!! Click photo above to enlarge.

Then Wednesday she was leaving so she came again to meet me for lunch on her way out of town, and we found a good Persian restaurant. It's more expensive (and more "formal" inside than Falafel, Etc in Fremont, but the food was really good, and they had Persian tea! Yum. The baba was really flavorful and not too heavy in texture or garlic; the hummus was thick and also not overpowered by garlic, so that's a really good find. I have to take my mom there when she next visits me.

Wednesday evening we were then to host the Rev Mark Sell for a couple days as he was traveling through CA so we could visit and give him a check for his work, but he had gotten food poisoning along the way, so we never got to meet up.

As Kym will remember, we had what looked like a pond brewing in the front yard. At first we thought perhaps with all the rain we'd had it was settling there and because the sun wasn't on it, it was not drying out. Well, B started digging yesterday and figured there must be a leak in the pipes somewhere. He realized that where it was pooling was not the site of origin. See photos....
That's the pond with soil removed...



and here is the source: Yes, UNDER those 3 sprinkler pipes. Joy. So..... we have no water in the house, are using the bottled water for the toilet, so that we can still use that... and B is working on repairing the pipe right now, as I type this. Whee. So far, the water is leaking DOWN, into the yard and not into the house... which, of course, is MY big concern. :-) And I'm hoping it's an easy fix once B can repair the pipe. At least it wasn't tree roots in the pipes or a sewer issue. Ugh.

Of Ladysmith and allergies

I have so far surmised that this "thing" is allergies - my throat was fine for the rest of yesterday, and rough again this morning only when I awoke. My nose is a little runny, but so are my eyes, and allergy meds seem to be keeping all mostly at bay. I am so glad it's not a sinus infection!!!
For a few reasons.
1. My sister is visiting tomorrow through Wednesday
2. We're going to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo Tuesday night, her birthday
3. I have to go to work, no matter how I'm feeling

Work is going ok, but I am NOT thrilled that they are dumping the entire Workers Comp process on me. I mean, first, I don't even really like dealing with numbers, and for what they're paying me, it is ridiculous. I am paid the same as the receptionist, from whom they have little expectation - and I get this. I'm a bit bitter.

Surly Saturday

Ok, I don't really feel surly overall, but my throat does. I'm hoping that the gargling-with-salt-water maneuver will do the trick. I'm crossing my fingers it's just allergies/time of year since I seem to have passed through the sickies at work, as they are all doing better now. What does worry me a little is that one woman with whom I have to closely work has been coughing a lot and sometimes breathes on me. UGH! But I am hoping to eliminate whatever ails me, hoping it's just allergies - which I never had until I moved to this region - as last year these allergies/sinus issues kicked me hard last year at "about" the same time - it was actually about a month earlier.