Five days ago I was struck down by a terrible virus that I contracted from a friend of mine on Facebook...and I literally mean me, not my computer. The friend had posted on her page that SHE had just recovered from a "vicious 24 hour stomach virus" and that she was waiting to see if the rest of her family would soon be suffering from the same. I replied that I was sending good thoughts her way; bravely risking my own health, by typing on what proved to be her highly contagious thread. Sure enough, 23 hours later I was struck down with the same exact malady... except my illness lasted for four days, so I am guessing that others must have commented on her status as well, causing me to reread the contagion thrice more, when I received their notifications.
The onset of my illness was quite sudden. On Saturday, although I had a headache, I had a productive day and even enjoyed a late-night chat online with one of my extremely humorous friends. Finally though, fatigue and the headache forced me to say goodnight and I went to bed oblivious as to what lay in store for me the next day. I shan't go into the gory details for we have all suffered the woes of stomach viruses, but, suffice to say, that when I awakened Sunday morning it was by the full force of the enemy combatant germs which had staged a surprise attack on my body while I innocently lay sleeping. My friend had not been exaggerating about the viciousness of this particular virus, and, whenever I wasn't retching with alarming frequency into my ever-present 28.7 ounce empty plastic Folgers coffee container, (an idea that I am considering marketing because I think it really was rather ingenious ) the only thought that gave me hope was the fact that I would be returning to good health in a mere 24 hours.
Much to my dismay however, the first day passed and then the second with my symptoms abating only slightly. By this I mean that I only needed to keep my Folgers can in close proximity to me, as opposed to actually carrying it with me everywhere I went. By Wednesday though, when I was forced to cancel a very important appointment that I had made 7 weeks earlier, I truly began to feel discouraged. I thought to myself how awful it would be to always feel this sick and said a little prayer for anyone who might suffer that way on a daily basis... I also began to contemplate the distressing possibility that I soon would be joining their ranks. Ever the optimist though, with great resolve I decided to will myself back into good health by doing a little cleaning, albeit in very short spurts. I would clean for 3 or 4 minutes until utterly exhausted, then stop to rest while bemoaning my fate. Once completed, I would summon up the strength to get up and clean a little more before again repeating the resting and bemoaning sequence. By mid-afternoon I decided I was never going to get better and started worrying about the entire rest of my existence and how I would ever manage to make it through life, in this pitiful condition. I felt overwhelmed and anxious, as the burden of my never-ending 4 day illness weighed upon my shoulders. Bereft, I finally laid down once more and fell asleep. In the evening when I awoke a few hours later, I discovered, much to my surprise, that I was feeling a little better! I was filled with joy and jumped up to share the news with my husband who promptly told me to lay back down, which turned out to be very sage advice because all that joy and jumping was starting to make me feel a little queasy again.
Today dawned though, and I awoke feeling like my old self again. I felt extraordinarily grateful to have nothing more than the normal aches and pains that I have grown accustomed to over the past few years. They seemed familiar and manageable, and, somehow, I felt blessed to have them. A few minutes later though, I was distracted from my musings when I heard a familiar sound; it was my husband bemoaning his fate, as he awoke to find that he too, had now been attacked by enemy combatant germs during the night while he slept. Fortunately, I am now feeling well enough to take care of him....from a distance, and while simultaneously attempting to disinfect our entire house from all traces of what will now be known as, "The Vicious 24 Hour Facebook Virus." : ) ~ Blessings- Amycita ~
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