I live in a House o' Puke. Tuesday night, Clay started throwing up. He ran a fever all day Wednesday. Thursday evening, Brooklyn started throwing up. A few hours later, Lexi joined her. I was awake all night going back and forth between the two of them. In the wee hours of the morning, my stomach started feeling a little funny. I convinced myself it was only because I was so tired and needed sleep. I talked myself out of throwing up for hours. I tried to trick myself that I wasn't really sick. I prayed my Vomit Prayer. "Oh dear God, please, please, please, please, please, please, please don't let me throw up. Please!!!"
And then I threw in the towel. (Literally, I threw a towel over all the vomit.) Oh yeah, and I start throwing up myself. I texted my friend, Eric at 4:30 in the morning. I've got it now too. :***(
He was at my house by 6:30 with bags of Gatorade, Sprite, chicken broth, Pedialyte pops, soda crackers, oyster crackers, children's Motrin, Advil, anti-diarrhea meds, hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, etc.
I sort of remember letting him in my house and then passing out. Apparently he held my girls' hair while they threw up and cleaned up puke messes and disinfected everything in sight. I awoke at 10:30 when he left for work. Honestly, if it wasn't for him, we'd all be living in my van right now because my house would be full of disgusting uckness. Eric, there are no words to thank you enough for all you did for us. (Oh and just so you know, I love you and all, but there is NO WAY I will ever come clean up after you should you get sick. Just sayin'.)
Not wanting to be left out, Jackson joined Vomitopia this afternoon. I haven't seen Austin or Savannah all week. I think they've been hiding in their rooms, going to and from school via their windows. Smart kids. I leave for California on Tuesday. My parents may or may not come watch my kids for me at this point.
I did fourteen loads of laundry today because I did nothing but cry in misery from my fever and achiness, sleep and um, run to the bathroom the past two days. I've gone over every surface in the house with antibacterial wipes. I've used so many cans of Lysol, everything has a nice, glossy coating now. When I get back, I'll be listing the place for sale. Unless, of course, I get the report that the kids are still sick, in which case, I'm staying in California until spring.
And when I logged on my computer tonight to tell me tale of horrible sickness, I was greeted with a headline that there's a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has left 250 people dead so far.
People often say to me, "How do you do it? You have it so hard."
I don't have it hard. And even when I delude myself into thinking I do, I'm reminded that there's always, always someone out there who has it worse. So, tonight, I'm saying something that you probably never thought you'd hear me say. "Thank God for simple viruses that only last 48 hours."
Sunday, October 24, 2010
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17 comments:
I am sorry, I have to giggle at your vomit prayer, I do the same - that is until I said the prayer (while in the toilet), I fainted and broke my leg. Think i will take the vomiting from now on. Hope you all get better soon.
Wow, Eric is truly a real friend!
I feel very sorry for you all and hope that you are all feeling better now.
I don't know if it's just a modern myth, but here in Sweden some people swallow twenty or so white peppercorns every few days during stomach flu season and swears that it keeps stomach bugs away. I've never tried it myself though, think that swallowing 20 peppercorns would make me you-know-what. Thew swallow them whole though. Well, rambling.
Take care of eachother and Eric, if you read this, you are amazing! Thank you for taking care of Dawn and her kids. Gold star to you!
Just when I start to think about adopting a child, I read your blog. And the thought of adding one more kid to the mix of sicknesses, makes me wanna run away. :) I'll stick to my two thankyouverymuch. Hope you're felling better. And Eric ROCKS!!!
You have a really great friend to come and clean up all the puke and to sit by the little ones and hold their hair while they heave. What a great friend indeed!
Atagirl. Now go forth and gloss some more.
I'm glad that everyone's starting to feel better. I hope you get to go on your trip as planned on Tuesday. Give Eric a great big hug from all of us! And keep us posted on whether he gets sick as well. I don't know how he's avoided it so far!!
And TG for Eric! I might need to borrow him next time I'm sick or something!
What a wonderful friend you have! I hope all is well for you all now!!
Take care!
Cathy (mom of 6) xx
If you agree never to cook me anything with onions in it, I will submit to having to clean up my own puke ;) Since eating onions is about the only thing that will make me puke, I think we’re all good! :) Count me among the people who often say ‘How do you do it?!’. Most often I am amazed by the weight you carry upon your shoulders. I’m glad to give your back a break every now and then. You don’t need any words to thank me, no sacrifice is too great for the ones you love. "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13).
That Eric is an awesome friend! We have that flu going thru here, kid 1 started this morning...crossing my fingers that the large amounts of Lysol disinfectant spray did it's job.
Thankfully, most of my kids don't get sick at the same time. They like to spread illnesses out over several days. Thank heavens for large front loading washers and dryers... :)
Oh you poor thing! What a wonderful friend you have to come help you out like that. I hope you all recover quickly....and don't get sick again for a very very long time.
Eric definitely ROCKS!
Prayers for everybody getting better - quick!
Good for you, Dawn. I try to to find the silver lining, too. Usually a pessimist, this is really helping me to change and be more nice to be around.
Now why did you have to post about vomit? Now I have puker in my house! *sigh*
Okay, that is some great perspective on that whole situation! We can always find someone who has it better and lots of folks who have it a WHOLE lot worse!
Secondly, whe Bear Hugg is quoting I Cor. 13 and playing down everything he did, I think I fell in love....No, I am happily married, but I am telling you, this guy is special. You already know it, but WOW~!
This is crazy! Our house JUST went through this. 4 out of 5 of us got it in 6 days. So far, our oldest has been spared. But that's some nasty stuff. At least I lost 6 pounds during the process.
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