An update

Hello people. I've been down with gastric flu... something I've never heard of. hah. You'd think people should get sick with only what they've been told/heard/read about. A little knowledge about what exactly is causing so much discomfort would be good.

"Gastroenteritis (gastric flu) see also Salmonellosis, Food poisoning

Inflammation of digestive tract, usually caused by a virus... caused by contaminated food or water, by specific food which produce an extreme allergic reaction (see Allergy), by a sudden change in diet (abroad, for example), or by any illness or drug which alters natural balance of bacteria in gut. Symptoms vary in severity, usually pass off within 48 hours; a bad case will cause repeated Nausea and vomiting, Diarrhoea, cramping Abdominal pain, Fever, and exhaustion; a mild case may be limited to vague nausea and a loose stool or two. In infants and elderly people, 'stomach upsets' can be serious as they easily lead to dehydration and even Shock. Best treatment is rest and plenty of fluids, though GP may prescribe drugs to control vomiting and diarrhoea.

(website:http://www.drlockie.com/disease/gastro.htm)"

Yeah well. My turn to play doctor.

"Gastricus Fluous (gastric flu) see also, Too Much Durian, Foolhardiness

Appears to have been caused by careless eating habits. Patient was indulging in a durian-stuffing orgy on friday afternoon when a seed fell off her hand, hit the durian thorns and landed on the newspaper. Patient apparently decided that she was superman's secret sister and finished that seed. -fastforward a few hours-.

Patient is feverish [38.1'C] on her way home, but shrugs it off with a cold bath and a panadol.

Friday night: Fever and nightmares throughout, and her asthma comes back.

Saturday morning: Fever [38.6'C] is unabated, but patient still goes for CAC's captain's ball games. She reaches Vincent Hall at 0822, and there's briefing and worship before her first game at 1000. By 0900 she can't take the cold she feels anymore and has to be led out of the hall. Someone gets two panadols for her. She falls asleep in the direct sunlight, wearing a sweater over her jersey and a shirt covering her legs.

She plays for GMC till 1500. By that time, her friends are insistent she go home, telling her she's "flushed". She comtemplates going for yf [school day] at 1600, but decides that going for a bbq [visiting missionary family] at 1800 is more important.

After she reaches home and takes her bath, she starts shivering convulsively. She's jerking so hard she can't take her panadol. It's so cold it's painful.

Spends another night filled with vivid nightmares that exhaust her, body chills that don't go away, persistently aching legs which feel like they've got lactic acid in them. So that she gets out of bed worse than when she got into it. [39.6'C]

Sunday: She
-literally goes blind temporarily
- has diahorrea
-hyperventilates
-is unable to walk unassisted
-gets her period
-Resumes her Life In Bed. She would have spent a total of approximately 50 consecutive hours in bed before she gets up. [I didn't include toilet breaks]

Monday: She spends the entire morning touching her lips. They are swollen, soft on the outside and hard inside. [sounds like some food huh] She is worried she'll spend her whole life with swollen lips. Her diahorrea has also advanced into pure water. [dark coloured, of course] Which is quite amazing, considering she ate very little on saturday, and practically nothing on sunday. papa also comes in, and insists she leave the bed and sleep on the floor because according to him, "[her] waterbed isn't cool anymore. the water has turned warm!".

By afternoon her neck is stiff from lying down for 50 consecutive hours, and she is getting a headache. She also pronounces the thermometer spoilt. Her fever never goes down.

[website: www.chelism.blogspot.com]"

Yeah well. It really was just about the worst weekend of my life I think. The nightmares were... it was as though I was witnessing it all with my eyes open. try spending the entire night with your eyes open. And they were very real.. in terms of the people in it. the first night, each one of my classes was set a task to complete, otherwise harm would come to them, and I was the only teacher there. and I was already dying. [literally, in the dream.] The whole dreamscape was dark and bleak, and I could only see the panicked faces of my students. I needed to help them. All my seven classes. But the asthma wouldn't go away. Sometimes I'd cough myself awake, but that night I was unable to differentiate between what was consciousness and the unconscious...
The second night was worse in a different way. The wheezing and inability to breathe had gone, but the task more hideous. It was completely dark, and the only source of light, if it could be called that, came from a massive amount of clay. It was dark red, like diliuted blood, so that all the faces around me glowed a dark red too. They were all women. Grim-faced, lifeless. We were supposed to mould the clay.. and the monstrosity kept enlarging, kept getting harder, so it got more and more impossible to mould it, but we couldn't stop, I couldn't stop... My last memory was the darkness, and the grotesque clay, now blood red. I don't know why the women disappeared.
Try those two nights...
Physically. I really really.. repluse fevers. As in, I would spit them out and destroy them if I could. They aren't like a deep cut, or a wound. Fevers just leave you so cold all the time, and I'm really afraid of the cold in ordinary days already. I hate fevers because they make my body ache, and the cold.... the cold never stops, you know? That's the worst thing. The cold never ever leaves you, no matter how much you wear. and you're left weak... I hate feeling so weak. sigh. anyway.

Thanks for your prayers guys. Nothing like having a strong network of christian friends. (:

k. I'm quite tired by this post. Going to rest.