It's been a looong week, and it's only Wednesday.

I studied Sunday afternoon for my final exam on Monday.  Whilst I was studying Sunday evening, I ate a handful of raw peanuts that I'd bought on the pervious day.  I loves me some peanuts; I ate them raw as a kid and had a hankering for some.

Sunday night - actually 1am on Monday - I woke up with a bellyache.  You know how it hurts when you get punched in the stomach; right at the solar plexus?  Yeah, it was like that, but worse, and every 2 minutes.  It was like labor.  3am I started puking, and I didn't stop until Tuesday morning.   I missed class on Monday afternoon and it's good that I have a instructor nice enough to let me come in Monday eveing for an hour to sit the finals or else I'd have flunked the class.

I passed.  Got 93%, which I'm not real happy with, but it's a pass so I'll take it.  Besides, I was trying not to hurl and dealing with the bellyache, a headache, a fever and joint aches the whole time I was taking the test.

Tuesday was a little better.  I didn't sleep well; I got up at 2am and laid on the couch, watching Ali G and trying not to laugh because it hurt.  My belly was swollen, bloated and tender - but it was tender further down rather than my stomach itself.  I had to take Shea to the doctor and when he remarked that I looked ill I told him my symptoms and he asked me what I ate right before I got sick.  When I told him raw peanuts he immediately said 'there's your trouble; you probably had salmonella and ought to have been on IV therapy for a few hours.  You need to be seen by a doctor and we should get a stool sample so's we can confirm what's wrong with you'.  Hah.  Like I had the time to do that.

I feel better today than I did yesterday.  I stuck to clear liquids all day yesterday, and ate a couple of saltines and come ritz last night and actually managed to keep them down.  I had clinical rotation this morning - I checked with my instructor before I showed up to make sure it was safe for me to show up.  Nobody else in the house has been ill, so it's almost positive it wasn't a virus.  Anyway, I worked on the Alzheimer's unit of a home this morning. Some of the ladies there were still 'with it' but there were a few that were pretty much unreponsive. One of them was only 50.  50 years old, and when I looked into her eyes I saw....nothing.  She wasn't able to talk, feed herself and was incontinent and I swear that it was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. 

I've decided to take a break from looking after the Mr.  I've been sick in one way or another for 2 weeks now, and what with school, clinicals, the kids, the house, surgery next week (just a small thing; same day stuff for my back).....I just need some down time. I need time to relax and recuperate and get better - REALLY better, not just 'feeling' better.  I'm afraid that if I don't, I'll end up with virus upon virus and I'll get exhausted and be no good to anyone.  He has someone else that can care for him and will be fine, but it's still going to be a hard call to make.  I don't like telling people that I can't help them.

Alright, it's time to get out of these scrubs and into some sweats.  I'm going to lay on the couch, drink 7-up and be generally lazy.