The Dreaded Norovirus

Oh yes, I have now joined the statistics as one of the hundred of thousands of people who have suffered from this awful virus!

I was feeling good this week, getting into my routine with the man gone, the first full week of work half-way done and back to working out; But then it hit me. I was at work seeing my patients when I began to get the chills. As the day went on I became really fatigued and felthot, I knew the norovirus was in the hospital but none of my patients had it. I washed my hands religiously the whole week with soap and water; I didn’t think I possibly could have it. My initial thought was I didn’t have caffeine today and this was a side effect! I got through the workday. But on my commute home I continued to feel worse.

I barely made it to the apartment, before I became extremely sick.  It was every half hour from 6:30 pm to 4 am and I just laid on the floor in terrible pain. It got a little "better," just once every 2 hours from 5 am to 10 am. All day yesterday, I felt so incredibly weak I could barely stand. Thankfully, I have wonderful neighbor who knew Jamie was gone and bought me ginger-ale, Gatorade and took the dogs for the day to let me sleep. They were truly my saving grace! 

Today, much better, just feel extremely exhausted and cannot hold any food down yet. But at least I am functional. I disinfected the bathroom kitchen, doorknobs, everything, this afternoon! Of course I did it in 15-minute increments with 30 minutes to rest between. Now I know how my patients may feel during therapy! 

I wish this on NO-one. If you are ever unfortunate to have this virus, here are some tips that may make it a little more bearable for you. 

Things you can do to help speed up recovery from the norovirus are: 

·      Stay well hydrated with fluids. Although water helps to rehydrate it does not provide replenishment of the electrolytes the body loses rapidly from vomiting and diarrhea. Sip slowly on clear fluids (sport drinks, ginger-ale, flat soda). Drink little sips as often as you can, but beware that your body wont be able to retain the fluid. 

·      Stay off work (or school) until 48 hours after the symptoms have gone. Try to avoid coming into contact with people for these few days.

·      Try sticking to a light diet when you feel up to it - foods that are easy to digest are best to start with. They recommend the B.R.A.T diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). 

Norovirus is a particularly nasty stomach virus that lasts 2-3 days. It is not dangerous to those in good health but it could be dangerous to those that are ill or in compromised health. It is extremely contagious and can be spread by hands, mouth, eye or fluids. Make sure you disinfect anything you have come in contact with. 


This was not the way I imagined how I would lose some of my Holiday weight! But least there was one positive thing to come out of it right?! 

Happy Thoughts!