Home Sick

I stayed home from work today.  Woke up in the middle of the night with a stomachache and feeling completely nauseous.  I managed to avoid throwing up although, in retrospect, if I had just given in and thrown up, I might have felt better, gone back to sleep and woke up feeling better than I do now.  But I HATE throwing up.  It is one of the things my younger brother and I have in common.  He and I have always hated throwing up.  I remember when we were growing up, he would lie on the bed, holding a towel to his mouth and willing himself not to throw up.  I have done the same thing and, it takes effort, but generally works.  I think we both agree that once we swallow food, we would prefer not to see it again.

So I am sitting around today, watching TV and hoping that this is just a one-day event.  I am planning on taking a long nap later.  I’m a firm believer that a nap cures all sorts of ailments.  And, if it doesn’t cure it, at least if I’m asleep, I don’t have to be aware of how sick I am feeling.

It used to be that, when I had stomach problems, I could take some Pepto and then I would feel better or at least have a calmer, and pinker, stomach.  But I’m not supposed to take things like that because it interferes with my thyroid medicine.  The human body really is a delicately balanced system.  One thing out of whack can cause other things to go out of whack if you try to fix the first thing.  So fixing my stomach by taking Pepto will cause my thyroid to overact and that will cause all kinds of other symptoms.  It is better to just deal with the one problem, the stomachache, than throw the rest of my body out of balance.  Sometimes, if I am really feeling sick, I will just give in, take the Pepto and ignore the fact that now my thyroid medicine isn’t being effective.  I do wait until I feel incredibly sick before I do that. I don’t feel THAT bad today so I think I will do what is recommended and not take the Pepto.

Speaking of delicately balanced, I hope that no one was trying to eat while reading this.  When I read or hear about throwing up while I’m trying to eat that, in and of itself, will make me nauseous.  If this happened to you while you were reading this, I’m sorry. Maybe I should have put a disclaimer at the top.  Sort of like the  “SPOILER ALERT” critics are supposed to put at the top of their reviews when revealing critical plot points in movies.  I could have put up “POSSIBLE NAUSEOUS ALERT” at the top.  But that might make people want to read it more.  Sort of like the overwhelming urge to smell milk after you read that the carton is a month past the “use by” date.

Anyway, I hope that this didn’t make you feel sick.  And I hope that no one else comes down with this stomach ailment I am experiencing.  I don’t think it is contagious but, since I don’t know what caused it, I’m not 100% sure about that.  I am 99.999999% sure but that still leaves a .000001% possibility I am wrong. So I hope everyone stays healthy and well and feels fine on this last day of summer!