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!
Bookmarks