It Came Back

 It Came Back

At the end of my last post I shared my violent and sudden attack on my body of diarrhea and the horrible retching and vomiting. It came out of nowhere, waking me form slumber and washing over me like a tidal wave. The diarrhea hit first. While I was perched on the throne, I felt wrapped from head to toe in a wave of blast furnace-like heat. I felt too hot and I struggled to remove my long-sleeved shirt. My mouth was filled with a flood of water that often will happen preceding a bout of vomiting. The purge hit while my head was buried in my shirt. I barely got it off when the geyser burst forth. I was able to grab a nearby trash can to catch the explosion. Wave after wave of my stomach contents tumbled forth; filling the trash can to the remarkable depth of three inches deep. There was nothing left, but my body didn’t know that and dry retching continued. I’d eaten cabbage roll casserole earlier and I’m not sure I will ever try to eat it again. That sour taste lingered.
The loose bowel movements continued until I was passing clear fluids. The noise form my hyperactive bowels growled like a demon from a horror movie. I finally took a tablet of Imodium in an attempt to slow the tide. I was concerned that if I stemmed the tide of loose bowel movements, it might cause a back-up and I feared for the re-emergence of the vomiting.
The symptoms eased and Monday I mowed my yard. I had planned to mow Friday when my schedule was interrupted by my illness. Sitting inside on Sunday, I heard the sounds of my neighbor mowing his lawn. I felt sick again. My lawn was a mess, ragged with bare dandelion stem wagging in the breeze.
Overnight into Tuesday morning, the diarrhea returned, muscle aches added to my symptoms. I decided to seek professional help. The hyperactive bowel sounds had never stopped and now that the loose bowel movements had returned after the short pause, I wanted to be sure of the cause.
I visited a nearby emergency care center seeking reassurance or palliative care. After signing in, a physician’s assistant listened to my history and gave me the once-over physical examination, she pronounced me ill with a virus. I was doing everything correctly to counter the bug. She said as long as I was able to eat and remained hydrated; it should disappear in ten days to two weeks. How wonderful. I guess I need to lay in a supply of toilet paper.