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no, not really, my life is ... listening to CHVRCHES ... and, lightly texting a couple of you people I care about
Last night after I went to bed there was no pooping and no cramping, so I slept more normally. This morning's BM was closer to normal, without cramping. Perhaps the OTC medicines helped, perhaps my body was about to feel better anyway.
But immediately before I went to bed last night was the worst, the pain and cramping were the worst of the 36-hours, and I was starting to feel depressed and broken, this was unsustainable, I thought. T suggested if I wasn't better in the morning to call my doctor, and I agreed, although if the pain and cramping had continued through the night I might have gone to urgent care at 2am.
So far, I don't think that's necessary now, but if that level of pain and cramping returns today I'll definitely call.
Nothing too rigorous on my work calendar today, I may try napping instead of using caffeine and chocolate to power through. If I move my body at all today, it will be to take Dax on his regular 1-mile walk, and to do some stretching. I'll decide about tomorrow, tomorrow.
I want to blame that new restaurant I ordered lunch from on Monday, although it is impossible to know for sure. I'll never order from them again, though. I do not have any remains of the food to send for testing, not sure whether I should make a complaint to DC Health when I can't be certain. I'd ordered two dishes from them, one for lunch, one for my afternoon snack. The dish I had for my afternoon snack didn't taste right to me, so I didn't finish all of it, but then I moved on ... until Tuesday around Noon when the symptoms began.
There have been times when I could be more certain of tainted food, because I vomited that food up before my next meal, but this food seems to have made it all the way to my large intestine before my body became upset about it. And the irritation remained in my large intestine, it seemed my stomach and small intestine continued working fine. That's what was different about this bout of food poisoning -- it caused pain and cramping from my lower intestine to the outside of my butt. I fear including more detail would be too gross, but, the effect it was having on my butt was highly unusual, and I'm somebody with a pretty darn strong butt. I guess "rectal cramping" is the official term.
OK, I did file a complaint with DC Health, that was an easy process. I'm not certain of the cause but if other people experienced the same thing and also filed complaints then there would be a group of complaints pointing at the same restaurant. ChiKo @ Dupont Circle. You couldn't pay me to eat their food again.
Fingers crossed that the worst is over now.
But immediately before I went to bed last night was the worst, the pain and cramping were the worst of the 36-hours, and I was starting to feel depressed and broken, this was unsustainable, I thought. T suggested if I wasn't better in the morning to call my doctor, and I agreed, although if the pain and cramping had continued through the night I might have gone to urgent care at 2am.
So far, I don't think that's necessary now, but if that level of pain and cramping returns today I'll definitely call.
Nothing too rigorous on my work calendar today, I may try napping instead of using caffeine and chocolate to power through. If I move my body at all today, it will be to take Dax on his regular 1-mile walk, and to do some stretching. I'll decide about tomorrow, tomorrow.
I want to blame that new restaurant I ordered lunch from on Monday, although it is impossible to know for sure. I'll never order from them again, though. I do not have any remains of the food to send for testing, not sure whether I should make a complaint to DC Health when I can't be certain. I'd ordered two dishes from them, one for lunch, one for my afternoon snack. The dish I had for my afternoon snack didn't taste right to me, so I didn't finish all of it, but then I moved on ... until Tuesday around Noon when the symptoms began.
There have been times when I could be more certain of tainted food, because I vomited that food up before my next meal, but this food seems to have made it all the way to my large intestine before my body became upset about it. And the irritation remained in my large intestine, it seemed my stomach and small intestine continued working fine. That's what was different about this bout of food poisoning -- it caused pain and cramping from my lower intestine to the outside of my butt. I fear including more detail would be too gross, but, the effect it was having on my butt was highly unusual, and I'm somebody with a pretty darn strong butt. I guess "rectal cramping" is the official term.
OK, I did file a complaint with DC Health, that was an easy process. I'm not certain of the cause but if other people experienced the same thing and also filed complaints then there would be a group of complaints pointing at the same restaurant. ChiKo @ Dupont Circle. You couldn't pay me to eat their food again.
Fingers crossed that the worst is over now.
Normally I don't care much about having diarrhea, it comes and goes every so often, but this time ... it's not just the diarrhea. I've also been having abdominal cramps that make me bend over and hold my breath, and now the pain around my butt is starting to get pretty bad -- chafing, burning. Still no fever.
The diarrhea itself seems to be tapering compared to overnight, but the side effects of each successive BM are now sending me to the medicine cabinet.
The various reputable sources on the Internet tell me this should resolve itself over the next day or so, and to contact my doctor if it doesn't, but now I'm trying to reduce my discomfort.
I made it through the work day, from 9 to 5. A mug of decaf this morning and then some dark chocolate this afternoon kept me awake, and I had some bland meals. I was able to take Dax on a walk to the playground as usual, after I took a shower. It's such a nice day out after those weeks of frozen precipitation. If I'd felt better I might have changed the hot tub water today, so I can enjoy fresh hot water bathing in the non-frozen outdoors. Soon ...
I think tonight we'll have a bland supper together, and then I hope I can get a better night's sleep with the help of OTC medicines.
I might have to skip the butt toys this weekend while my GI tract heals. It's become such a weekly ritual. I could play a video game instead, or relax while listening to an entire audiobook.
The diarrhea itself seems to be tapering compared to overnight, but the side effects of each successive BM are now sending me to the medicine cabinet.
The various reputable sources on the Internet tell me this should resolve itself over the next day or so, and to contact my doctor if it doesn't, but now I'm trying to reduce my discomfort.
I made it through the work day, from 9 to 5. A mug of decaf this morning and then some dark chocolate this afternoon kept me awake, and I had some bland meals. I was able to take Dax on a walk to the playground as usual, after I took a shower. It's such a nice day out after those weeks of frozen precipitation. If I'd felt better I might have changed the hot tub water today, so I can enjoy fresh hot water bathing in the non-frozen outdoors. Soon ...
I think tonight we'll have a bland supper together, and then I hope I can get a better night's sleep with the help of OTC medicines.
I might have to skip the butt toys this weekend while my GI tract heals. It's become such a weekly ritual. I could play a video game instead, or relax while listening to an entire audiobook.
Wednesday crap
24 February 2021 07:08Symptoms continued through the night and into this morning, but I'm not feverish. Warning: I may be sleepy and have low cognitive skills today :-) But my torso feels skinny, LOL, usually I lose five pounds when I have this kind of illness. Having a bland breakfast of Cheerios, soy milk, and bagel. I'm hungry but will not eat more than usual until the diarrhea is done. Drinking Gatorade to replenish electrolytes.
Unfortunately I have 4.5 hours of meetings on my work calendar today :-(
Unfortunately I have 4.5 hours of meetings on my work calendar today :-(
So far the diarrhea isn't slowing down just because I'd like some sleep. I have spent more time sitting on the toilet in the past 12 hours than I have in years.
I looked up the guidelines for when to call my doctor, but I'm not there yet. Symptoms are consistent with moderate bacterial toxin food poisoning. I had food delivered by a new restaurant while working at the condo yesterday so I'm blaming them.
My second GI illness of quarantine. It's the only kind of ailment I've had, probably from delivery meals both times.
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Several of my siblings and members of their households have either caught COVID or have scheduled their vaccinations, so the family chat this evening was about when can we all get together again. The ones getting vaccinated are all teachers. I'm the only sibling that is neither a teacher nor has caught COVID, so I'll be the last to acquire immunity -- even though I'm the oldest. But the nieces & nephews are another category, nobody is vaccinating kids yet -- that seems to be the hangup for having a full family gathering this spring.
There was some disagreement over the conditions for having a full gathering -- some said they wouldn't bring their kids, other's said they wouldn't show up until their kids had been vaccinated also. And would everybody wear masks, would it be held outside? One sibling who's already had COVID said he wouldn't show up unless everybody agreed to wear masks. Another said the person hosting the gathering should be able to set the rules. I said nothing at all, didn't feel like discussing it when I have no idea when I'll get my shots.
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T is looking forward to having an entire weekend to himself, so assuming I feel better, and assuming this was food poisoning and not a virus that will have T sick in a couple days, I'll be back to the condo for Friday-Sunday. I probably won't be exercising again until I feel better, but I was able to lift weights this morning before my GI tract started acting up. It's too bad, tomorrow was going to be a great day to go running, as spring like temperatures return. I even saw my first rabbit of the season today when I took Dax outside.
I should find something to read until I get sleepy again. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off.
I looked up the guidelines for when to call my doctor, but I'm not there yet. Symptoms are consistent with moderate bacterial toxin food poisoning. I had food delivered by a new restaurant while working at the condo yesterday so I'm blaming them.
My second GI illness of quarantine. It's the only kind of ailment I've had, probably from delivery meals both times.
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Several of my siblings and members of their households have either caught COVID or have scheduled their vaccinations, so the family chat this evening was about when can we all get together again. The ones getting vaccinated are all teachers. I'm the only sibling that is neither a teacher nor has caught COVID, so I'll be the last to acquire immunity -- even though I'm the oldest. But the nieces & nephews are another category, nobody is vaccinating kids yet -- that seems to be the hangup for having a full family gathering this spring.
There was some disagreement over the conditions for having a full gathering -- some said they wouldn't bring their kids, other's said they wouldn't show up until their kids had been vaccinated also. And would everybody wear masks, would it be held outside? One sibling who's already had COVID said he wouldn't show up unless everybody agreed to wear masks. Another said the person hosting the gathering should be able to set the rules. I said nothing at all, didn't feel like discussing it when I have no idea when I'll get my shots.
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T is looking forward to having an entire weekend to himself, so assuming I feel better, and assuming this was food poisoning and not a virus that will have T sick in a couple days, I'll be back to the condo for Friday-Sunday. I probably won't be exercising again until I feel better, but I was able to lift weights this morning before my GI tract started acting up. It's too bad, tomorrow was going to be a great day to go running, as spring like temperatures return. I even saw my first rabbit of the season today when I took Dax outside.
I should find something to read until I get sleepy again. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off.
I have spent a large chunk of my day on the toilet.
No fever, instead my temperature is below normal and I feel cold, probably because my body is not uptaking nutrition but is throwing everything overboard instead.
No fever, instead my temperature is below normal and I feel cold, probably because my body is not uptaking nutrition but is throwing everything overboard instead.
worn out Bug
18 February 2021 16:19It's a good thing I skipped the weight lifting in favor of snow shoveling because trying to shovel these two inches of frozen sleet was impossible. I tried, I really tried, but I started feeling like my hands were going to form blood blisters from trying to scrape this frozen shit off the sidewalk. Not to mention the stress on my arms and shoulders. I couldn't finish, and I've felt sorta sick ever since. I think if I'd continued, I would've ended up with painfully swollen hands for a couple days.
I completed the work I had to complete today, and then I quit at 4pm, I'll take two hours of sick leave.
T didn't even try to shovel this crap. Usually we split the job of shoveling and it doesn't take that long, except for that 2016 Snowpocalypse when we had two feet of snow and I paid somebody to come over with his snowblower.
This winter we're not really getting snow, we're getting freezing rain and sleet with a bit of decorative snowfall in between the layers of ice. But today we didn't get any snowflakes, it was all freezing rain, then sleet, then it all froze together like that shit on your freezer coils that requires you to unplug the thing and let it defrost. You cannot shovel it, you can only pound and scrape it an inch at a time.
It will be above freezing for a while tomorrow afternoon, but I was hoping to be downtown by then. And I'm not sure having the air a few degrees above freezing will help with shoveling that crap anyway. But then it's gonna be cold cold over the weekend. This neighborhood is gonna take a while to melt out of this sleetstack.
I completed the work I had to complete today, and then I quit at 4pm, I'll take two hours of sick leave.
T didn't even try to shovel this crap. Usually we split the job of shoveling and it doesn't take that long, except for that 2016 Snowpocalypse when we had two feet of snow and I paid somebody to come over with his snowblower.
This winter we're not really getting snow, we're getting freezing rain and sleet with a bit of decorative snowfall in between the layers of ice. But today we didn't get any snowflakes, it was all freezing rain, then sleet, then it all froze together like that shit on your freezer coils that requires you to unplug the thing and let it defrost. You cannot shovel it, you can only pound and scrape it an inch at a time.
It will be above freezing for a while tomorrow afternoon, but I was hoping to be downtown by then. And I'm not sure having the air a few degrees above freezing will help with shoveling that crap anyway. But then it's gonna be cold cold over the weekend. This neighborhood is gonna take a while to melt out of this sleetstack.
infection control?
24 December 2020 07:23So far I haven't caught whatever T has. It seems yesterday was his worst day and he's starting to rebound this morning. Still only the two symptoms -- fatigue and nasal congestion -- which doesn't fit the standard profile of COVID-19, so I'm continuing to accept the most likely (90%) diagnosis as the common cold.
With many viruses, including both the common cold and COVID-19, you're most infectious to other people before you start having symptoms. This is why you can hang out with a group of healthy-feeling people doing yoga and then feel sick a couple days later, as happened with T. This is why holiday gatherings are so dangerous for spreading COVID-19 right now.
Now that T has been feeling common cold symptoms for more than three days, he's probably becoming less infectious. Maybe tomorrow morning it will be OK for us to sit across from each other in the living room and open presents with a bottle of champagne. We'll see how he's feeling tomorrow.
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I'm still in bed while T eats his breakfast in the kitchen, but so far it feels like my back is doing better than it was yesterday morning. I will probably continue to avoid vigorous exercise until next week. I'll stick with stretching, walking Dax, and household chores, and then I'll be careful in ramping up my various exercises again -- lifting at half weights, running only 3 miles, etc. I've been through this cycle so many times! of cutting back and ramping up and then enjoying my exercise routines until the next injury strikes (shoulder, foot, back). I try to get smarter about exercising and stretching and correct equipment, but I'm also getting older, so avoiding injuries keeps getting trickier. But the alternative would be to lose muscle and bone mass more quickly, and then become even more fragile, which would lead to chronic problems like arthritis, osteoporosis, and heart disease, and set me up for disastrous falls.
I'm probably never running a marathon again, but I can continue exercising as I get older, I must remain resilient. But I can also learn a lesson from what Sir Ben said -- taking a break from everything can be delightful. A break from work and exercise, just binging TV and playing video games. Sometimes you have to give up your illusion of control.
With many viruses, including both the common cold and COVID-19, you're most infectious to other people before you start having symptoms. This is why you can hang out with a group of healthy-feeling people doing yoga and then feel sick a couple days later, as happened with T. This is why holiday gatherings are so dangerous for spreading COVID-19 right now.
Now that T has been feeling common cold symptoms for more than three days, he's probably becoming less infectious. Maybe tomorrow morning it will be OK for us to sit across from each other in the living room and open presents with a bottle of champagne. We'll see how he's feeling tomorrow.
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I'm still in bed while T eats his breakfast in the kitchen, but so far it feels like my back is doing better than it was yesterday morning. I will probably continue to avoid vigorous exercise until next week. I'll stick with stretching, walking Dax, and household chores, and then I'll be careful in ramping up my various exercises again -- lifting at half weights, running only 3 miles, etc. I've been through this cycle so many times! of cutting back and ramping up and then enjoying my exercise routines until the next injury strikes (shoulder, foot, back). I try to get smarter about exercising and stretching and correct equipment, but I'm also getting older, so avoiding injuries keeps getting trickier. But the alternative would be to lose muscle and bone mass more quickly, and then become even more fragile, which would lead to chronic problems like arthritis, osteoporosis, and heart disease, and set me up for disastrous falls.
I'm probably never running a marathon again, but I can continue exercising as I get older, I must remain resilient. But I can also learn a lesson from what Sir Ben said -- taking a break from everything can be delightful. A break from work and exercise, just binging TV and playing video games. Sometimes you have to give up your illusion of control.
slow healing?
23 December 2020 10:46My back injury seems to be healing slowly as I stretch, rest, take short walks with Dax, and try to avoid postures or activities that cause pain. I might try cooking dinner this evening, last night we had frozen pizzas.
When I told Sir Ben about how I'm spending my days -- off work, watching Outlander, stretching, resting, taking short walks -- he said it sounded delightful. Well ... if it were by choice ... if it weren't punctuated by back pains. He said it can be difficult to force myself to rest. Yeah, T is the same way, he was super grumpy when he realized he was sick and needed to rest. I'm not super grumpy, but I do feel like LIFE IS UNFAIR, HOW DARE MY BACK HURT, WHEN WILL IT STOP HURTING, WILL IT HURT LIKE THIS FOREVER.
I mean, I just internalize it because I'm an introvert (except for writing here in my journal). T externalizes it because he's an extrovert. Probably if T kept a journal we'd sound pretty much the same right now, except we'd flip in describing who has which symptoms. He'd probably write that I was insufferable on Monday as well, hahah.
I think both of us agree WORST CHRISTMAS EVER.
I'm taking today off also, which now means I'm not working again until next Monday. I expect to feel all better by Saturday at the rate I'm healing, unless I catch T's cold in which case I'll have something else to complain about for a week. We'll have to decide soon whether to cancel the next Maids visit so they aren't exposed to virus particles as they clean house.
I'll try 2nd season Outlander and try not to stay up past 3am again ;-)
When I told Sir Ben about how I'm spending my days -- off work, watching Outlander, stretching, resting, taking short walks -- he said it sounded delightful. Well ... if it were by choice ... if it weren't punctuated by back pains. He said it can be difficult to force myself to rest. Yeah, T is the same way, he was super grumpy when he realized he was sick and needed to rest. I'm not super grumpy, but I do feel like LIFE IS UNFAIR, HOW DARE MY BACK HURT, WHEN WILL IT STOP HURTING, WILL IT HURT LIKE THIS FOREVER.
I mean, I just internalize it because I'm an introvert (except for writing here in my journal). T externalizes it because he's an extrovert. Probably if T kept a journal we'd sound pretty much the same right now, except we'd flip in describing who has which symptoms. He'd probably write that I was insufferable on Monday as well, hahah.
I think both of us agree WORST CHRISTMAS EVER.
I'm taking today off also, which now means I'm not working again until next Monday. I expect to feel all better by Saturday at the rate I'm healing, unless I catch T's cold in which case I'll have something else to complain about for a week. We'll have to decide soon whether to cancel the next Maids visit so they aren't exposed to virus particles as they clean house.
I'll try 2nd season Outlander and try not to stay up past 3am again ;-)
Having a common cold in 2020 is so retro! T's symptoms and timing thereof are looking more and more like a common cold, so I had Amazon helicopter over some Cold-Eeze and I've started sucking on them. I threw a second box of them at T, but he's read the same studies I've read, he said, "It's too late for me, I've been symptomatic for over a day." It's not clear that zinc lozenges work at all on cold viruses, perhaps they only work against certain kinds of cold viruses -- they've seemed to work in about half of the published studies -- but they can't hurt, they're just zinc and sugar. Zinc nasal sprays can hurt, avoid those.
So, I'm back to my old school common cold prevention routines, I totally didn't miss those. Things like opening doors with my sleeves instead of my hands, paying attention to where my hands are going, washing my hands more often. The main difference is that I've never tried THIS HARD to avoid catching a cold from T before, and he's never tried THIS HARD to avoid giving me a cold before. We've never worn masks in the house, never religiously stayed six feet away from each other, never eaten on separate floors.
I've never turned off the upstairs hallway ceiling fan.
It will be interesting to see, as we all return to offices and schools next fall, whether people treat cold and flu infections more seriously, like T and I are doing this week, because of the chance it might be COVID-19, or because we care more about not getting each other sick. How much of this care and carefulness will stick post-Vaccine?
So, I'm back to my old school common cold prevention routines, I totally didn't miss those. Things like opening doors with my sleeves instead of my hands, paying attention to where my hands are going, washing my hands more often. The main difference is that I've never tried THIS HARD to avoid catching a cold from T before, and he's never tried THIS HARD to avoid giving me a cold before. We've never worn masks in the house, never religiously stayed six feet away from each other, never eaten on separate floors.
I've never turned off the upstairs hallway ceiling fan.
It will be interesting to see, as we all return to offices and schools next fall, whether people treat cold and flu infections more seriously, like T and I are doing this week, because of the chance it might be COVID-19, or because we care more about not getting each other sick. How much of this care and carefulness will stick post-Vaccine?
household status
22 December 2020 09:38My back still hurts -- worst back injury in years, and I don't even know what caused it, because it slowly crept up on me last week as I continued my normal routine, and now since Saturday I've been crippled by it. It seemed better this morning than yesterday morning, but not by much. I'm taking the day off from work because sitting at my desk with my work laptop is painful. I can more easily find a way to sit on the sofa or on my bed that isn't painful.
But I also know that bed rest is not the best for back pain, so I am continuing to do chores and take Dax on walks. I'm not doing any vigorous exercise. I'm not sure about cooking, that requires a lot of different kinds of movements, when just unloading the dishwasher wears me out right now. I'll decide about cooking dinner later. It's too bad we bought all this food to cook for Christmas and neither of us feels well enough to cook anything.
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T is still sick today, but he's in a normal mood about it instead of the insufferable grump he was yesterday. He's still got the same two symptoms -- congestion and fatigue. Typically this combination of symptoms at this time of year is a sign of a common cold, not flu, not COVID-19. As his symptoms have not progressed today, I'm thinking the odds of COVID-19 are declining. T thinks he caught a cold from somebody over the weekend, despite the social distancing they practiced, despite everybody getting tested for COVID-19 before they gathered. Yes, cold and flu viruses are still circulating, though at reduced rates compared to last year at this time.
I still don't want to catch whatever he has, and there's still a chance it is COVID-19, because this disease is so new and can present differently in different people, so we are practicing social distancing and mask wearing inside the house. We are eating our meals at separate times or on separate floors of the house. I'm trying to be mindful of what I touch and washing my hands.
Christmas has been totally derailed, except that we did each get gifts for each other, they are appearing under the tree when nobody's looking, heh. We never finished decorating the tree or the house. We can't even decorate separately, because he's fatigued and my back has me crippled. So, worst Christmas ever! I do remember having the flu as a small child one Christmas, was stuck in my parents' bed watching Christmas specials on their little bedroom TV. I've probably had a cold during Christmas before. But the combo of Quarantine, T sick, me crippled ... you might say the worst Christmas was the one after my father died, but that was more of a mixed bag for various reasons ...
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So long as T is feeling fatigued I'll stick around the house -- between the two of us we can take care of pets and do dishes and laundry. Maybe by the end of the week we'll both be feeling better and then I can venture back to the condo.
But I also know that bed rest is not the best for back pain, so I am continuing to do chores and take Dax on walks. I'm not doing any vigorous exercise. I'm not sure about cooking, that requires a lot of different kinds of movements, when just unloading the dishwasher wears me out right now. I'll decide about cooking dinner later. It's too bad we bought all this food to cook for Christmas and neither of us feels well enough to cook anything.
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T is still sick today, but he's in a normal mood about it instead of the insufferable grump he was yesterday. He's still got the same two symptoms -- congestion and fatigue. Typically this combination of symptoms at this time of year is a sign of a common cold, not flu, not COVID-19. As his symptoms have not progressed today, I'm thinking the odds of COVID-19 are declining. T thinks he caught a cold from somebody over the weekend, despite the social distancing they practiced, despite everybody getting tested for COVID-19 before they gathered. Yes, cold and flu viruses are still circulating, though at reduced rates compared to last year at this time.
I still don't want to catch whatever he has, and there's still a chance it is COVID-19, because this disease is so new and can present differently in different people, so we are practicing social distancing and mask wearing inside the house. We are eating our meals at separate times or on separate floors of the house. I'm trying to be mindful of what I touch and washing my hands.
Christmas has been totally derailed, except that we did each get gifts for each other, they are appearing under the tree when nobody's looking, heh. We never finished decorating the tree or the house. We can't even decorate separately, because he's fatigued and my back has me crippled. So, worst Christmas ever! I do remember having the flu as a small child one Christmas, was stuck in my parents' bed watching Christmas specials on their little bedroom TV. I've probably had a cold during Christmas before. But the combo of Quarantine, T sick, me crippled ... you might say the worst Christmas was the one after my father died, but that was more of a mixed bag for various reasons ...
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So long as T is feeling fatigued I'll stick around the house -- between the two of us we can take care of pets and do dishes and laundry. Maybe by the end of the week we'll both be feeling better and then I can venture back to the condo.
