Out of all the experiences I've had at college, I don't think any (aside from serious boy drama) suck as much as being sick. I'm not really the type of person who gets sick frequently. I get upper respiratory infections all the time--I describe myself as having a perpetual cold--but I very rarely get the stomach flu. I think it's because I would get the stomach flu relatively frequently when I was little, probably once a year or so. I now have gastrointestinal immune system o' steel (haha). But the last time I had the stomach flu was five years ago, so it's been awhile. Needless to say, the past few days have been SUCKY. I started to feel sick on Wednesday afternoon, but I didn't think it was anything really, because I get stomach aches every now and again but they don't lead to anything. As the day went on, though, I just felt worse and worse and worse, and finally around 11 p.m. I threw up. You know, I certainly don't enjoy throwing up, but I think it gets too much of a bad rap. Yeah, it's gross, and it's not very pleasant, but I sure felt better after I got, oh, the entire contents of my digestive tract out. I had a hard time sleeping on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I felt fine immediately after waking up, but that went downhill really, really fast. I went to the Health Center to see if I had a fever, but I was at 98.7 or something ridiculously normal like that, so I didn't have a real reason to skip class :/ . I had five and a half hours of class yesterday, and it was not enjoyable. I think I actually did have a fever, because I sure felt like I had a fever, but I made it through all of my classes without dying. Probably infected, oh, 70 innocent bystanders, but I still went to class. (sidenote: I think that's ridiculous. I should not have felt so obligated to go to class that despite the fact that I felt like death, I still went. I should not have to worry so much about falling behind or having my grade lowered because I could barely drag myself out of bed. I realize attendance policies are put in place so the lazy bum whose parents are paying for his entire education will go to class and pass, but illness should be an exception to the policy). After I finished with my classes for the day, I got back in bed and basically didn't move until this morning when my alarm went off. Once again I felt a lot better when I woke up...until I got diarrhea. Sick nasty. It wasn't actually too bad, though, and I haven't had any *ahem* episodes for about five hours now. I've also not had any trouble keeping down food, and at lunch I was able to finish my piece of toast and all of my applesauce, which is the first time I've been able to do that since I got sick! Yay for minor victories.
This whole experience has made me not want to grow up. Being stuck at school with the stomach flu was awful. I mean, I know I would've felt just as crappy if I had been at home, but then I would've had someone to take care of me. Here I had to fend entirely for myself. I had lots of people who were willing to get me something if I needed it, but what I really just needed was my mom to come in and check on me every now and again and feel sorry for me. Of course, she did call me frequently and gave me advice and comfort, but it wasn't the same as her actually being here. Can I be a kid forever please?
