Fun With Giardia

Several weeks ago, I was home with the kids one afternoon after work. It was really nice outside. We went in the back yard and the kids were playing at the sand table while I did yoga on the deck. Horatio started hanging out on the yoga mat with me. I was able to kind of work around him, and it seemed like he was being sweet. I finished my poses and lay down to meditate. Horatio was snuggled between my legs.

And then he threw up on me. It was all over his clothes, my clothes, the yoga mat. At that moment, John came outside. He had just gotten home. I looked at him in horror! Horatio and I stripped (we have a fence around the back yard) and went straight into the bath while John (he's a legend) cleaned up the porch.

Horatio perked right up after his bath but we still kept him home the next day (them's the rules). And then everything seemed fine.

Until a couple nights later when he did it again! This time the kids were both in the play room and I was in my room when Virginia came in and said, "Horatio is dripping."

I thought, "What, like dripping blood?" I actually said, "What do you mean?"

She said, "From his mouth." And I started to get the picture. I walked into the playroom to once again find a big mess. This time not in a place we could just hose down.

Again, John came home soon after and helped with the cleanup.

This time Horatio still seemed unhappy after vomiting and his tummy was visibly bloated. I called the nurse line (which has always been very helpful) and I was reassured that we could continue to watch and wait for several more hours and only needed to take action if things got worse.

He had a tough night, but seemed better again the next day. He continued to have minor tummy trouble off and on for days, but we thought his digestive tract was just irritated from whatever illness he had had.

Then I got it. One Friday I woke up feeling not great, but took some Imodium and soldiered through. Sometimes my stomach is upset for seemingly no reason, so if taking something for it works, I usually assume I'm okay. Around lunch time I noticed that I felt nauseous when I was hungry so I managed to eat some food. I snacked on poweraid and pretzels on the drive home.

I wasn't okay. When I got home and the Imodium wore off...it was bad. I couldn't eat anything else and had to get through the nausea and then gnawing pain in my stomach. I was either on the couch or in the bathroom into the middle of the night, when there was nothing left inside my body and I could finally lie down to sleep. (Law and Order is my show of choice when sick on the couch.)

I was fine, but tired, the next day and continued cautiously about my business. By the next week I certainly had no thought that I was still sick. But almost the exact same thing happened the next Wednesday. I made it home and resigned myself to another night of Law and Order and discomfort.

I took the next day off work (the last day before spring break, unfortunately) and went to the doctor. I felt much worse the day after this time. Not still sick, but worn out. You're body can't go through that kind of thing over and over. I went to urgent care, where I was diagnosed with giardia and prescribed medication.

But the thing is, even though the doctor was okay with me taking the medication without a lab test, he still wanted me to do a lab test so we could notify the day care. (Giardia is usually spread by drinking contaminated water, but is also spread around day cares.) This meant I couldn't start taking the drugs until I had acquired a *ahem* sample. You know, if I killed the parasite before getting a sample, then what was the point.

Except that after being so sick it's not as if everything just goes back to normal. I was watching the clock wondering if I would be able to start taking the medication in time to prevent another episode. Of course, if I did get ill again, the sample would be no problem...

I'll spare you the details of collecting, but suffice it to say I was able to begin the drugs without the passage of too much time and I did not get sick again.

I couldn't drink alcohol while on the medication and it gave me headaches and decreased my appetite (yeah, I'm pretty much wasting away here), so I'm just now starting to really be back to normal.

The moral is if you can avoid getting giardia - do.