Our tale of woe

So, Monday night Tony went to bed saying he had a headache. Tuesday morning he informed be he'd been up all night with the unmentionable problem as well as the unthinkable - vomiting. (You should understand that both my children survived until now without ever having a vomiting illness.) I had to go to work so he got his sister to come over and sit with him. I came home from work and then his girlfriend came to sit with him too. (Much too closely to a sick person.) But none of us were too concerned because these stomach problems are always food borne so he must have picked it up elsewhere. Wednesday he was feeling much better but had a terrible cough, so we took him to the doctor. He has that privilege until he graduates high school, since he qualifies for MediCal (which I do not). They said his throat was inflamed and sent us to the pharmacy with a prescription for an antibiotic. The pharmacist informed us a stomach flu had been going around. "Stomach flu"? I asked, dubious. "I thought these things were food borne." Well, not this one, he says. It follows an incubation period based upon exposure to the person, unlike food poisoning which traces itself to a meal. Hmm.

When I said goodnight to Tony at about midnight he informed me that Erika (his girlfriend) had texted him that she'd just thrown up. Not two minutes later I received a text from Gina saying she just threw up. I went to bed with a headache. I woke at 2 am and spent the next four hours almost entirely in the bathroom. I did not want to bother Paul because he had to work in the morning. He woke up early and, rather than go to work, spent several hours in the bathroom. The illness ran like clock-work with each of us falling ill just about 48 hours after exposure to Tony. He left to go back to school Thursday morning with everyone he loves and cares about at home decimated. He said he felt like he'd left a trail of destruction. And in a way he did, but as it always is with Tony, he didn't mean to. And of course, none of this was his fault. When he came home he was kind enough to bring me Alka-Seltzer and soda-crackers and take the dogs out to do their business.

Paul and I spent the day together side by side in bed racked with aches and pains, dozing on and off, completely unable to assist one another in any way, discussing things like how nice it was that he'd just mowed the lawn the day before so it looks pretty when I look out the window, and what a cozy room our room is for a sick person, and how nausea is the single worst human feeling. And we wouldn't be Paul and Laurie Mathers if we didn't discuss death. (You are all my witnesses that Paul is not allowed to pass before me unless it is completely out of his control.)

So, now we're both on the mend but as weak as kittens. I woke up feeling like a human again and wanting to do normal things, but without the strength. So I think by tomorrow we'll be back to normal.

And thanks to everyone who prayed for us!