I Got E.Coli

This is an appropriate post for today, seeing as I called out sick from work. I'm coughing up green and brown stuff and I have blisters in the back of my throat. I figured I shouldn't spread that around. But seriously...I hate being sick and I HATE calling out from work. It makes me feel unreliable and useless.

Troy and I got married in June of 2007. He went active duty in November of 2007 and reported to Dover. He went to logistics training school in Texas from the first week in January until the end of April. I was still in grad school and so I went to visit him in Texas for my spring break in March.

I was so excited to go visit and we were having a great week. We visited with Rob and Cynthia and did some San Antonio sightseeing on the Riverwalk. When he was in class during the day, I would go to the gym, watch movies, and hang out in the room. Sometimes Troy would come back for lunch and sometimes not.

This particular day, I had a PB & J sandwich for lunch by myself in the room. Troy felt bad and picked up a pizza on his way home and we had spinach salads for dinner. We ate picnic style on the floor of our hotel room and watched a movie.

I apparently did two no-nos that day. I ate peanut butter and spinach.

That night, around 2am, I woke up with HORRIBLE stomach and abdominal pains. I ended up in the bathroom SICK SICK SICK. So sorry for the mental image, but I was sitting on the toilet and throwing up in the trash can. I knew that Troy had to get up early the next morning at 5am for PT and I was trying to be quiet. But sometimes, when your insides are coming out of both ends, it's hard to be quiet.

I had been in the bathroom for about an hour when Troy stuck his head in the bathroom door and immediately pulled it back out. Traumatized, I'm sure.

Troy: Um, what's going on?

Natalie: I've been sick for about an hour.

Troy: I know. Can you keep in down in there? I have to get up soon.

Seriously...that happened. Never mind that we had been married less than a year and I was HORRIFIED that Troy had caught me in such a vulnerable and delicate position.

Troy ended up going to PT and class and leaving me sitting on the toilet. Don't worry...he changed the trash can bag for me. I sat there from about 2 am to 8 am. My legs had been asleep for about 4 hours.

Troy got permission to skip class for the rest of the day to take me to the ER. Let me tell you, throwing up in the waiting room of the ER 4 times is a quick ticket back to triage. They DO NOT want to keep cleaning up barf...or have people complaining about the smell and retching sound. I was seen almost immediately because I was throwing up 10+ times per hour.

The doctor told me that I had gotten it from the spinach or the peanut butter. So sad. It was definitely a test in our marriage. Troy has since learned to be nicer to me when I'm sick :)