Gastroenteritis

*"ER" theme music plays* (Please note, if you have a sensitive stomach, you may want not want to continue reading. I'll keep the language gentle, but the insinuations will be very clear.)

This past Saturday, on his way home from work, R called me to "warn" me that his stomach was upset and he had Mc*Donald's for lunch. Now, just so you know, I have successfully omitted Mc*Donald's from my diet--after the 3rd upset stomach. (We didn't eat there often, anyways, but every time we did, we'd both end up sick a few hours later.) R tried to avoid them, but still held out hope that maybe one day they'd be good again (his childhood loyalties are much stronger than mine). So, I was "warned" and I was prepared.
He came home and ran straight for the throne. I quickly realized that this was no ordinary stomachache--he had crap coming out both ends! I gave him some pepto bismol and water--and sent him to bed. But, his stomach wasn't cooperating. Every 5-10 minutes he'd jump out of bed and rush to the bathroom. Always with crap out of both ends! He also told me that he felt like something was "stuck" in his throat--and that was what kept making him gag.
After 4 hours of nonstop "bathroom breaks" and one phone call to his mom (25 years as a nurse), he told me that he thought we should go to the Emergency Room! We dressed and packed up a barf bucket and some papertowels and headed out (it's only about 5 miles from the house, but not in my truck--you know what I mean). There were only a few other people in the waiting room--and honestly, they seemed to be on a social call rather than a medical emergency! The nurse called him back for his vitals--and he put on a terrific gastro-technics show for her! I tried to warn her! After that, he had to be wheeled around in a chair because he was feeling lightheaded.
They took us back into a private room, where we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally the doctor (his name was Dr. Butts, if you can believe it!) came in and asked for the symptoms. He looked in R's throat and quickly made his diagnosis. R had gastroenteritis (caused by the stomach virus that has been "going around" this season) and all the barfing had irritated his uvula--which was now swollen (hence the "stuck in the throat" feeling). The doc ordered two shots for him--one was a steroid to help the swelling go down and the other was a muscle relaxer to help stop the gag reflex (and to help R sleep). About 30 min later, a nurse came in with two HUGE needles! One went in his shoulder, the other in his hip--and he is a BIG baby when it comes to needles. Not 5 min after the shots, he was OUT (asleep) on the bed! We waited another 45 min to "check out," and the doc gave us a prescription for anti-nausea medicine. 2 hours after we got there, R was wheeled out to the truck, and I took him home.

When we got home, I got him in bed and gave him a cold compress for his head. Even the kitties were worried about him--Reina cuddled up right next to him like she wanted to make him feel better! (She never does that.)




Sunday (fortunately was R's day off) he was feeling better--but had to visit the bathroom every 10-20 minutes! I picked up his prescription for him and the "sleepyness" side effect was an added bonus. He ate a little soup and jello, but pretty much slept the day away.
By Monday he was feeling much better (although still a little "tender" in the stomach).
Yesterday, I started feeling it! (Thanks R!) I made it through nearly a full day at work, but today, I'm staying home. Fortunately, I have some samples that I'm waiting on--and I can't really do anything else until I get those results back... So, it's an okay day for me to stay home. Blech! I just wish I didn't feel so crappy!