So this week’s post is a little late as my house was hit by the 24 hr tummy bug and along with a partial blockage I got struck by it twice! I wanted to talk about a little about my experiences with a smaller tummy bug rather than the gastroenteritis I suffered with last year! And how it all affected us differently.
So it technically began on my birthday (26th) and my kiddies went to stay with their Grandma so that 00Steve and I could have the night to ourselves – not that we had anything planned in particular. His youngest brother still lives at home and his girlfriend often stays on the weekend. She ended up being the first person to get the tummy bug and even though she tried to stay away from the kids but sadly it just wasn’t as good as if she had gone home.
I spent most of Monday with severe tummy pains and a partial blockage which just would not pass! Ra-Ra that night started complaining of her tummy hurting whilst I was reading her bedtime story, she is one of those kids who can sometimes have a sore tummy from her lack of appetite at teatime and I didn’t think anything else of it. But by the time I had gone downstairs to wash up 00Steve was shouting she was being sick. Just what I needed! It took the both of us taking it in turns to clean her up and her room, 00Steve cleaned her carpets whilst I cleaned her down and gave her cuddles before she had a shower.
No sooner than having her settled in a bed of blankets under her cabin bed ready for me to join her later so I could keep an eye on her, Button was coughing but making no other fuss. I walk in to find him laid in undigested food shivering, he has never been “big person” sick before and it was heartbreaking. Another bed being stripped and 2 more sets of clothes for him as he continued to vomit on himself sat up and a shower it was 10pm and I just wanted to go to sleep. I was very worried he would choke in his sleep so in between Ra-Ra and me he went, thankfully by this point I had been a little sick myself and that shifted the partial!
Every time he woke up she would cry “Don’t let him be sick on me!”, which was heartbreaking because I was doing the best I could to keep them both as clean as they could be. I barely slept because every time I just got to sleep one of them would be sick and my maternal instincts just kicked in. I kept Ra-Ra off school for 2 days till I knew she was clear, sadly Wednesday night I was in severe abdominal pain and at first I put it down to the glass of red and the goats cheese brie I ate. I decided to go to bed with a sick bowl and when I emptied my bag it was pure water so I put an incontinent sheet on my bed just in case it leaked. I saw every hour through the night to empty a full bag of water it was awful, I always struggle with being dehydrated.
I am very lucky to have some amazing mums I can call my friends and I text one of them just before 8 whilst laid on Ra-Ra’s bedroom floor whilst she got dressed to see if one of them could grab her as they went to school. Thankfully her and her brood came and collected Ra-Ra so she at least could get away from the bug for a few hours. When I got Button up he had been sick again poor kid so not only did I have to crawl around the house trying to keep hydrated but I had to strip and wash another bed. We had a day sleeping on the sofa and he thankfully was fine. Again my mum friends shone a couple asked if anyone was doing the school pick up which 00Steve was doing; it really shows small communities wherever they are really do rally around. Ra-Ra was just happy she got to go to tap class!
Early hours of Friday is when it hit 00Steve; he is very rarely sick let alone vomiting and he was adamant he would be going to work fat chance of that! As he rang work and took the bin down the path he was sick outside three more times. He spent the day in bed getting looked after by me even though I was still tender. He got dehydrated and got a migraine which when he gets them (which is far too often for my liking) he struggles to even lift his head.
The bug seemed to only last 12 hours but it really knocked us all for six, heck I even had some dioralyte and I hate that stuff! I guess I am glad that having my ostomy meant that at least I didn’t have any urgency other than when my bag became very full. Since having my ostomy I have only vomited from blockages and being silly with alcohol! Have you caught the bug going round yet? I hope not what are your top tips for those who may have it?
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