Beware the Stomach Flu!
This week, I actually stayed home from work for 2 days while I was sick. It is the first time that I've stayed home sick in my 3.5 years in the working world. I'd have probably stayed home at least once or twice before, if I actually had sick days. Yeah- getting sick as a temp sucks. Staying home means losing pay, and going to the Dr means losing pay AND paying someone. AND, if I need medication, there is more to pay. Visiting a Dr, getting a prescription, AND missing 2 days worth of work would end up setting me back about a week and a half worth of pay. No thank you.
Monday night I was playing some Wii sports, and all of the sudden, I started to get very warm, and my muscles started to get very tight. I thought it was just from the Wii (too much playing can result in sweating and sore muscles if you play too hard and aren't used to it)... but Tuesday morning, I knew I was coming down with something. I had a stomach ache and had a general feeling of malaise, but I had a 9am meeting that I absolutely needed to attend, so I needed to feel better fast. Around 8:40, just before I was to leave for the meeting, I ate a banana, and promptly began vomiting. Thank goodness for the 20 trash cans in my office. Wow. So that sucked. Shocked, I had some water, and decided that perhaps that was all I needed to do to feel better. WRONG.
After my meeting, more stomach cramps, and a trip to the restroom confirmed to me that I needed to GO HOME IMMEDIATELY. I went back to the office, called Jessica, and found that she was unable to come get me. I went to the AATA (bus) webpage and couldn't get their schedule to come up on any of 3 computers/browsers, so I chanced it. I walked to the bus station, and found that I had missed the bus by 8 minutes. Next bus: 52 minutes. Yeah, no. I decided to continue walking home- somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles. While walking, my neck became increasingly sore, and though I was sweating, I became very cold. I spent the rest of the day in bed with a couple of heating pads, sucking down popsicles and diluted gatorade, making trips to the bathroom every 30-45 minutes, and moaning about the tremendous stomach pains. (Not as bad as ulcers, but definitely worse than normal stomach aches) That evening, I could not get warm at all. I had 2 heating pads, 2 blankets, sweats, and a hooded sweatshirt, and my teeth were still chattering. Jessica got really worried, because she said my body was super hot..... that night sucked, I began to sweat so much that I slept with a towel so I could stay somewhat dry.
Wednesday morning: blech. More of the same, plus a headache, stuffy nose, and achey muscles. I stayed home. Though I felt better on Thursday, I have continually had stomach problems, and knew that I would be less than productive at work. So I stayed home again. Today- feeling much better - slept with a breatheright strip last night to be able to breathe, but am pretty good today. Stomach feels a little iffy, but have been restroom free in 4 hours, which is a record since Monday.
All in all, a pretty yucky week, BUT - I did manage to lose another 5 lbs, which brings me in under 207 for the first time in almost a year! Hooray! Also, for those who encounter this particular form of the stomach flu - if you're looking for a "treat" - cook up some rice, and add honey to flavor. Goes great with saltines and 50% diluted grape (fierce) gatorade. Seriously- its almost like oatmeal, but with a more solid consistency - and the saltines give it a sweet and salty mix that makes you want to drink, which is what you should be doing in the first place. I dilute the gatorade, because 1) it makes it last longer and you won't spend as much money on the gatorade.... but more importantly, 2) sports drinks typically have too much sugar, which can upset your stomach even more. Diluting it 50% doesn't take away too much flavor, but still gives you something tastier than water. (I hate drinking water when I'm sick- I still have the "sick taste" in my mouth.
Enough of all this old-person-my-body-is-falling-apart-talk.... lets talk about Notre Dame for a minute.
Keep in mind, Notre Dame is my 3rd choice - UM and OSU are both above it, I'm not even considering MSU or Purdue, and didn't both applying to Illinois, Kansas, or Miami-Oh (All would have been below Notre Dame). Can I "stand" going to Notre Dame? You bet. It has a gorgeous campus, great facilities inside their business school, and a really friendly group of students. I don't care about any of the schools' football teams. I'll always be a Wolverine. I'll get season tickets so that I can hang out and make friends, but if I'm at OSU or ND, and the Maize and Blue come to town, you bet your ass I'll be rooting for UM. As far as the catholic thing.... that is hardly going to come into play. It isn't a requirement to be catholic, they don't ask you on your transcript what your religion is, and it isn't a part of the B-school curriculum. What ND's B-school is known for is their focus on ethics and values. They don't use religion as a guide for their ethics class, but rather as one of their demonstrational tools to help people discover their own values and to help people understand how to stand up for what you believe in. Believe me, if they had even 1 required religion class (there are electives, of course), I wouldn't have bothered applying. Of course the culture and community is different there. Of course I'll be a little out of place -- compared to most undergrads - but the graduate program is much different, and if OSU and UM turn me down, I'd be very happy to go to Notre Dame. (But, I have a feeling that I'll get into at least Ohio State - I received an email asking me to interview with them, and they stated that my application was very strong.) :)
This week, I actually stayed home from work for 2 days while I was sick. It is the first time that I've stayed home sick in my 3.5 years in the working world. I'd have probably stayed home at least once or twice before, if I actually had sick days. Yeah- getting sick as a temp sucks. Staying home means losing pay, and going to the Dr means losing pay AND paying someone. AND, if I need medication, there is more to pay. Visiting a Dr, getting a prescription, AND missing 2 days worth of work would end up setting me back about a week and a half worth of pay. No thank you.
Monday night I was playing some Wii sports, and all of the sudden, I started to get very warm, and my muscles started to get very tight. I thought it was just from the Wii (too much playing can result in sweating and sore muscles if you play too hard and aren't used to it)... but Tuesday morning, I knew I was coming down with something. I had a stomach ache and had a general feeling of malaise, but I had a 9am meeting that I absolutely needed to attend, so I needed to feel better fast. Around 8:40, just before I was to leave for the meeting, I ate a banana, and promptly began vomiting. Thank goodness for the 20 trash cans in my office. Wow. So that sucked. Shocked, I had some water, and decided that perhaps that was all I needed to do to feel better. WRONG.
After my meeting, more stomach cramps, and a trip to the restroom confirmed to me that I needed to GO HOME IMMEDIATELY. I went back to the office, called Jessica, and found that she was unable to come get me. I went to the AATA (bus) webpage and couldn't get their schedule to come up on any of 3 computers/browsers, so I chanced it. I walked to the bus station, and found that I had missed the bus by 8 minutes. Next bus: 52 minutes. Yeah, no. I decided to continue walking home- somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles. While walking, my neck became increasingly sore, and though I was sweating, I became very cold. I spent the rest of the day in bed with a couple of heating pads, sucking down popsicles and diluted gatorade, making trips to the bathroom every 30-45 minutes, and moaning about the tremendous stomach pains. (Not as bad as ulcers, but definitely worse than normal stomach aches) That evening, I could not get warm at all. I had 2 heating pads, 2 blankets, sweats, and a hooded sweatshirt, and my teeth were still chattering. Jessica got really worried, because she said my body was super hot..... that night sucked, I began to sweat so much that I slept with a towel so I could stay somewhat dry.
Wednesday morning: blech. More of the same, plus a headache, stuffy nose, and achey muscles. I stayed home. Though I felt better on Thursday, I have continually had stomach problems, and knew that I would be less than productive at work. So I stayed home again. Today- feeling much better - slept with a breatheright strip last night to be able to breathe, but am pretty good today. Stomach feels a little iffy, but have been restroom free in 4 hours, which is a record since Monday.
All in all, a pretty yucky week, BUT - I did manage to lose another 5 lbs, which brings me in under 207 for the first time in almost a year! Hooray! Also, for those who encounter this particular form of the stomach flu - if you're looking for a "treat" - cook up some rice, and add honey to flavor. Goes great with saltines and 50% diluted grape (fierce) gatorade. Seriously- its almost like oatmeal, but with a more solid consistency - and the saltines give it a sweet and salty mix that makes you want to drink, which is what you should be doing in the first place. I dilute the gatorade, because 1) it makes it last longer and you won't spend as much money on the gatorade.... but more importantly, 2) sports drinks typically have too much sugar, which can upset your stomach even more. Diluting it 50% doesn't take away too much flavor, but still gives you something tastier than water. (I hate drinking water when I'm sick- I still have the "sick taste" in my mouth.
Enough of all this old-person-my-body-is-falling-apart-talk.... lets talk about Notre Dame for a minute.
Keep in mind, Notre Dame is my 3rd choice - UM and OSU are both above it, I'm not even considering MSU or Purdue, and didn't both applying to Illinois, Kansas, or Miami-Oh (All would have been below Notre Dame). Can I "stand" going to Notre Dame? You bet. It has a gorgeous campus, great facilities inside their business school, and a really friendly group of students. I don't care about any of the schools' football teams. I'll always be a Wolverine. I'll get season tickets so that I can hang out and make friends, but if I'm at OSU or ND, and the Maize and Blue come to town, you bet your ass I'll be rooting for UM. As far as the catholic thing.... that is hardly going to come into play. It isn't a requirement to be catholic, they don't ask you on your transcript what your religion is, and it isn't a part of the B-school curriculum. What ND's B-school is known for is their focus on ethics and values. They don't use religion as a guide for their ethics class, but rather as one of their demonstrational tools to help people discover their own values and to help people understand how to stand up for what you believe in. Believe me, if they had even 1 required religion class (there are electives, of course), I wouldn't have bothered applying. Of course the culture and community is different there. Of course I'll be a little out of place -- compared to most undergrads - but the graduate program is much different, and if OSU and UM turn me down, I'd be very happy to go to Notre Dame. (But, I have a feeling that I'll get into at least Ohio State - I received an email asking me to interview with them, and they stated that my application was very strong.) :)
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