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  1. #1
    Senior Member timabababaluka's Avatar
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    Sick on the trail?

    I can normally rise above the generosity of my children when it comes to their sharing every/any illness they come in contact with, but a recent bout of some stomach-virus-death-flu has spread through the household like wildfire. Last night, during spasmodic fits of peering intently into the toilet, I could hear two of my boys (who are not graceful vomiters) yell-yakking, and I thought "Wow! Three people synchronously throwing up. That's got to be a household record!" Then I thought to myself "Uh, oh! We only have two bathrooms." (Three cheers for the plastic baggy, the dustpan, the steam-vac, and febreeze).

    Because of my condition, I opted to sleep of the floor (no indoor hang set-up) in order to be closer to the bathroom door, and to keep from disturbing the Missus with the constant up-and-down. Horrible night, very little sleep, and my back, legs, neck, and even my arms were killing me. It was then that I realized "If I were freezing cold instead of burning up with fever, this would be exactly how I feel after waking up in a tent!"

    Then I thought how horrible it would be to experience this on the trail. I've been pretty lucky thus far, but it got me to wondering...

    Has anyone here ever been sick while out on the trail? What did you do? Did you pack it all up and head back down the mountain (I had a friend so sick and dehydrated they had to helicopter him off of Mt. Whitney)? Did you hop in the hammock and try to wait it out? Or were you the super-human type that pushes on saying, "By the time this thing runs it's course, I need to be three mountains over"?

    Also, feel free to include any helpful remedies you may have found over the years. I'll be waiting by the bathroom door arm wrestling the Missus (who is now sick) to see who gets to use the master bathroom, and who has to run to the laundry room sink (2nd bathroom is occupied)--dang it! two out of three, woman!
    You're gonna need a bigger hammock

  2. #2
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    I got a corneal abrasion once backpacking......killed me all day but better at night. Did not go home. Got home and had to go to the ER. My wife's scorn hurt more.
    Shug of the Googly Eye
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  3. #3
    Senior Member KerMegan's Avatar
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    dude- hang your hammock in the back yard and put a trash can in a good spot nearby...remember to use a can-liner!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Muskrat's Avatar
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    another good use for the bottom entry of the HHs ! Just lay opposite of the norm and open the slit.
    “He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear, but then again he doesn't know the meaning of most words”
    - Bobby Bowden

  5. #5
    Senior Member G.L.P.'s Avatar
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    i only been sick on the trail once... and there is nothing like having the runs and having to go into a cat hole.....yeah i know ... sorry
    It puts the Underquilt on it's hammock ... It does this whenever it gets cold

  6. #6
    Senior Member Cannibal's Avatar
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    Only been sick (really sick) on the trail once and it was on the AT; no home to go to.

    I stumbled into a restaurant near a road crossing in NY and asked if there was anyplace nearby for a hiker to stay. A family that was at the restaurant took me home with them and nursed me for a couple of days, then gave me a ride back to the trail. Best temporary home and family I've ever had.
    Trust nobody!

  7. #7
    Senior Member NFA's Avatar
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    I bring a couple of does of pepto, benedryl, tylenol, advil, actifed, and immodium along with me on every trip...a targeted cocktail of a couple of the above meds can get me through just about anything, as long as I have plenty of powerade and a hammock to sleep through the sick...

    Jamie - nfa
    "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin


    My Author Website/Blog - My first novel, "Here Be Monsters", a mystery set in the Adirondacks, has just been published in paperback and Kindle formats.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by G.L.P. View Post
    i only been sick on the trail once... and there is nothing like having the runs and having to go into a cat hole.....yeah i know ... sorry

    Ahh for the times when you need a good Kilt and have nothing to make one with.

    Can you make a Kilt of of Spintex?

  9. #9
    Herder of Cats OutandBack's Avatar
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    I've been sick on the trail twice. Both times from under treated Springtime runoff water.
    In both cases I had to spend an extra day in the woods do to gut cramps. Hiking was not possible.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Doctari's Avatar
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    I currently have pneumonia due to the SEVERE amount of mold in the air after all the rain we have had in the last 2 months or so. Usually I would be on the AT for a 3 week hike around now, I can't imaging hiking the way I feel right now.
    BUT, I now have to get out of bed & go to the bathroom when I'm "Hocking up Lung Butter" or roll down the window if driving [not going to describe what it's like when in the back of the Ambulance, yuck!]. Yea, I'm still working, Yea I feel bad but I'm not contagious so,,,,,, AND, luckily, so far it's only in the upper lobes.
    I've only been sick once while on the trail, altitude sickness I think, felt like I had a bad case of the Flu, came near to tossing the cookies a few times, found out it's not a good time to be in a hard to get out of tent.
    When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
    PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.

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