The Noro Hammer Drop: No No Norovirus

 

I’ve had some absolute doozies when it comes to being sick over the years. I’m talking about chronic issues that led to losing most of the hearing in one ear from infections that went as far back as when I was a kid. If you’ve ever seen me sing live in the past 15 years and wondered why I stick to ballads and slower tunes, it's because I can’t hear myself very well, so any fast tunes I do are from pure muscle memory and ballads (or as someone once put it, boring songs) I can manage with a careful ear. I still battle recurring middle ear infections that require a PE tube insertion every few years after the last falls out. After battling through COVID five times, I honestly thought I knew what "the worst illness" felt like, though I’ve heard Shingles is pretty awful and the first round of the vaccine was horrible. Before the COVID, I might have said Chicken Pox might have been the worst illness I’d ever had but on both accounts, was I wrong.

My newest personal record for misery started innocently enough last Sunday. I was actually doing an at-home sleep study my doctor arranged when I was abruptly woken up at 4:36 AM by the sound of Terry getting violently ill then coming in and announcing what was going on. The sleep study? Abruptly over. We initially suspected food poisoning, maybe from the McDonald's I’d ordered via Grubhub, though I’m usually the first one to get hit by bad food. Then we thought about the nachos we had on Saturday at work, I tossed half of mine, but Terry finished his entire portion.

Tuesday rolled around and I was trying to manage things from work and was doing fairly well and on my break, I ordered some easy-prep groceries for Terry and a case of Sprite, the official soda of the BRAT diet. When I got home, he was still not feeling well and had to make sure he was able to get to the restroom quickly. When I'm sick, I hate being bothered, especially if someone is eating in front of me and I try to give someone else the same courtesy. So, I stayed in the kitchen and ate while he camped out in the living room. I needed to get up early, but I figured I’d go to bed around 7 PM.

Around 1 AM, Terry finally came to bed, still not great, but then a familiar bad feeling started bubbling up in my own tummy. My legs started feeling weird and I knew I was about to join the illness party. I scrambled to the living room, downed a Zofran, took a few sips of Sprite and popped a piece of peppermint candy in my mouth, peppermint usually does the trick for me.

I laid back down...and within minutes, I was making a frantic sprint to the restroom. This wasn't just for unnatural-feeling bowel movements; this was because nausea hit me like a ton of bricks. I jumped into the shower, hoping the cold water would help, but it was too cold. I cranked it up—too hot. I settled somewhere in the middle, still not feeling right. I grabbed the spray nozzle because I honestly thought I was going to poop myself in the shower.

Nope. Instead, the dry heaves started. And not just three or four times. On the fifth heave, it seemed like everything I’d eaten over the past few days decided to exit one way, while the really recent stuff went the other. Once it starts for me, it doesn't stop until the sights and smells are gone, so the spray nozzle worked overtime getting everything off of me, off the sides and floor of the tub and down the drain. A quick squeeze of toothpaste in my mouth calmed me enough to wash up quickly with some shampoo and a bar of Dial, only to hit the toilet one more time. I am so glad I bought a bidet for my toilet because it has been an incredible tool throughout this time.

Terry came to the door to see if I was OK, obviously I wasn’t and I let him know I was definitely in the same boat as him. I requested ice chips, more Sprite and I grabbed a wet cloth before attempting to go back to bed. Sleep never really happened. I messaged my manager that I wouldn’t be in and I had a video visit with a Kaiser Permanente doctor. Listing all of my symptoms, Terry’s symptoms and the rapid onset, the doctor agreed immediately: classic norovirus. She told me to stay hydrated, expect to be out of work for three days and called in a new Zofran prescription, told me to take Pepcid AC to calm the stomach and take nothing like Imodium AD, she said Pepto would be OK in a few days but after everything’s out. Wednesday and Thursday were nothing but Gatorade, Sprite and ice chips.

I still don’t understand how Terry was able to eat on his second day, because I couldn't even think about food. Around 1 AM Thursday night, I started seeing flashes of light—orthostatic lightheadedness. I was weak, dehydrated and then I remembered something else: I hadn’t taken my blood pressure medicine (amlodipine) in a few days. I took it and went back to bed.

The whole ordeal was excruciating, but the worst parts were the body aches and the fact I had to sleep on a towel because I knew it was never just a fart. I wasn't really sleeping; I was weaving in and out of consciousness.

Friday morning, Terry, now functionally better though not 100%, woke up and encouraged me to try and eat something. While he was at work, I managed ½ cup of applesauce and 8 saltine crackers. 

Saturday, I decided I was not going to call out and I actually went to work and managed to get through an entire shift. I wasn’t hungry but before work I had the same amount of applesauce and also crackers. While I was at work, I had a few more crackers and for lunch I had a banana. I was wiped out by the time I got home from work and for dinner, I had some rice and applesauce. Terry thinks I should have been eating more by now but I really don’t feel I can jump into regular food like that because it’s all about "baby steps" for me, mostly because I have an irrational fear of vomiting and pooping myself. I'm taking precautions now, ordering hand sanitizer and wipes specifically effective against Norovirus to keep with me, because the stuff they have at the airport that works for COVID is useless against the Noro. I’m also realizing the airport is a giant petri dish. The contractors who are supposed to clean the restrooms and common areas aren’t exactly the cleanest people, I’ve seen them eating in the public restrooms, while the counters are covered in water and paper towels and stalls look like Noro had made its rounds. For Terry and I, hopefully, this is the last of it.

I’m so grateful to be on the upswing now, even if I’m just enjoying a banana like it's the greatest meal on Earth. I actually have a pork loin in the crock pot with some amazing spices, herbs, onion and garlic. Once it's done, I’m going to shred it up and add some BBQ sauce, in hopes I can handle some BBQ tonight. I know it’s not a glamorous story but thanks for reading! If you've been through this, drop your best recovery tips below—we can all use the help!

A Recent Life Threatening Situation

Life has a way of throwing unexpected challenges at us, and the week before last was a testament to that for me. I've had ear problems for as long as I can remember—from ear infections as a child to almost complete hearing loss in my left ear as an adult. Over the years, I've undergone numerous procedures, including the insertion of ear tubes; I'm currently on my 8th set due to persistent middle ear infections caused by eustachian tube dysfunction.

Recently, I had a particularly troubling ear infection. The latest set of tubes had been accompanied by a residual fungal infection, and despite my ENT's best efforts, the prescribed Clotrimazole drops caused itchiness, redness, and swelling in my ear canal. So, my wonderful ENT decided to try a different approach with fluconazole, an oral medication. A couple of days into the 14-day course of fluconazole, I started experiencing some tummy troubles. Having had stomach issues with certain antibiotics before, I thought I could manage until the course was over. Little did I know, the medicine was breaking down in my body and wreaking havoc on my system.

Thursday morning started like any other day. I took my medication and headed to work, with a rumbling tummy that I hoped would settle. I barely made it to the restroom before passing through employee security. I was a tad late, but when nature calls, you have to answer. An hour into work, after several trips to the restroom, I began feeling weak. I informed my manager about my condition, and while explaining, I nearly passed out. I managed to pull myself together and called Terry to tell him I was heading home.

Despite resting on Thursday, I still felt off on Friday. I followed my usual routine, hoping I was just dealing with a bug. However, after taking my medication that morning, I was hit with a severe stomach ache, a massive headache, and even hallucinations similar to those caused by Ambien. I knew I had to leave work immediately. When I got home, Terry was ready to take me to the emergency room, but I insisted on trying to manage at home. I attempted to eat and rest, hoping the symptoms would subside. However, by the time it was night, and after another dose of fluconazole, my condition worsened. I realized it had to be the medication causing all this havoc.

Finally, after a rough night, I threw away the remaining medication to avoid any more accidental doses. Slowly but surely, I began to recover. I now understand that my liver disease makes me more susceptible to the adverse effects of medications like fluconazole. I have an ultrasound scheduled on the 17th which will hopefully ensure there’s no further damage than what we already knew I had.

A week later, I'm still experiencing some residual effects, but nothing as severe as before. I realize looking back that I put myself into a life threatening situation and I could have died. At one point, while sitting on the toilet, I was shivering because I was hot and cold and had chills. I had visions that I was dying but too stubborn to admit it at the time. This experience has taught me an invaluable lesson: always pay attention to what my body is trying to tell me.

Thank you for joining me on this journey of resilience and recovery. I’d love to hear your thoughts and any experiences you might have had with similar health scares. Your support and words of encouragement mean the world to me. If you find value in my story and would like to contribute in any way, I truly appreciate it. Here's to better health and always listening to our bodies! 🌟