STOMACH THE NEWS
I have spent the weekend and the better part of this week cradling my abdominal cramps. It all started on Friday evening. I put it down to the lack of sleep - make that immense lack of sleep and stress. In addition to dealing with work, I was going through resolving the mess my contractor was putting my apartment in. All of which had compunded to result in almost a week of toss and turn nights.
On Saturday, my eldest had her school concert and my stomach had by then decided to have a mind of its own. It almost felt like another vestige of my body as it churned, rumbled and roared. Though I rubbed my trusted Yu Yee oil and got to Aneesha's concert on time. She won my heart with her splendid performance (though I couldn't see much of it thanks to the seating arrangement).
Then when the show was over, she pulled up one of her Catch 22 questions. On a regular day, I would have seen it coming. Saturday, was simply different:
A : Mamma, did you like my show?
ME : Yes, poppet, it was fantastic, you surprised me
(The minute I'd said it, I knew I shouldn't have used the word surprise. Voila, it sprang back.)
A : You know, we practiced for so many days to surprise our parents. So how are you going to surprise me?
There it was. Loud, clear, staring me in the face. The surprise wouldn't take much. The stomach though was quite another story!
I decided to bear my pain (after all parents do that for their children all the time anyway) and headed on to Ikea - not so much for the furniture but for the ballroom.
By the time, the twosome were fed, it was past 10pm. As I stepped into the cab, I felt I would die any moment. Somehow we got home, I popped a painkiller, despite which the pain showed no signs of going away. So it was that I spent several hours tossing, turning and knowing no sleep.
By Sunday, I knew I had to get to the doctor on time, at least before my stomach and everything else with it ruptured.
One loud groan of the stomach and my patient doc was scribbling 'Viral gastroenteritis' aka the 'gastric flu'. Yes, the very same virus that has got so many children down of late. Mine wasn't too much of a mystery, I'd simply picked it up from my son, who had barely recovered from the crippling attack before passing it on to me.
To get an idea of what one can go through, while living through it, just visit this link. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000252.htm You might find relief in the line that "medicines can't fight the virus" i.e. they might give you some solace, but you simply have to live through what lies ahead. The symptoms of course could range from mild cramps to rather severe ones.
I had it all, including the days of hell. Though I've gone from lying to the sitting position today, the pain still lingers, making its subtle comeback with gentle stabs.
That's the reason why I remained clueless about the messages flooding my phone over the weekend. Had no clue that the Ubud Writers Festival story was making online waves thanks to our website http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ptm/booksfollowed by Sharon's wonderful plugs http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2006/10/half-minute-of-tv-fame.html
What would we all do without such support? I know responding to SMS-es and emails personally is simply rude. I wouldn't view it any other way. Though after reading this post, I hope you'll understand and will continue lending 'Off The Shelf' your listening ear. Till next Friday - Thanks All.
On Saturday, my eldest had her school concert and my stomach had by then decided to have a mind of its own. It almost felt like another vestige of my body as it churned, rumbled and roared. Though I rubbed my trusted Yu Yee oil and got to Aneesha's concert on time. She won my heart with her splendid performance (though I couldn't see much of it thanks to the seating arrangement).
Then when the show was over, she pulled up one of her Catch 22 questions. On a regular day, I would have seen it coming. Saturday, was simply different:
A : Mamma, did you like my show?
ME : Yes, poppet, it was fantastic, you surprised me
(The minute I'd said it, I knew I shouldn't have used the word surprise. Voila, it sprang back.)
A : You know, we practiced for so many days to surprise our parents. So how are you going to surprise me?
There it was. Loud, clear, staring me in the face. The surprise wouldn't take much. The stomach though was quite another story!
I decided to bear my pain (after all parents do that for their children all the time anyway) and headed on to Ikea - not so much for the furniture but for the ballroom.
By the time, the twosome were fed, it was past 10pm. As I stepped into the cab, I felt I would die any moment. Somehow we got home, I popped a painkiller, despite which the pain showed no signs of going away. So it was that I spent several hours tossing, turning and knowing no sleep.
By Sunday, I knew I had to get to the doctor on time, at least before my stomach and everything else with it ruptured.
One loud groan of the stomach and my patient doc was scribbling 'Viral gastroenteritis' aka the 'gastric flu'. Yes, the very same virus that has got so many children down of late. Mine wasn't too much of a mystery, I'd simply picked it up from my son, who had barely recovered from the crippling attack before passing it on to me.
To get an idea of what one can go through, while living through it, just visit this link. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000252.htm You might find relief in the line that "medicines can't fight the virus" i.e. they might give you some solace, but you simply have to live through what lies ahead. The symptoms of course could range from mild cramps to rather severe ones.
I had it all, including the days of hell. Though I've gone from lying to the sitting position today, the pain still lingers, making its subtle comeback with gentle stabs.
That's the reason why I remained clueless about the messages flooding my phone over the weekend. Had no clue that the Ubud Writers Festival story was making online waves thanks to our website http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ptm/booksfollowed by Sharon's wonderful plugs http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2006/10/half-minute-of-tv-fame.html
What would we all do without such support? I know responding to SMS-es and emails personally is simply rude. I wouldn't view it any other way. Though after reading this post, I hope you'll understand and will continue lending 'Off The Shelf' your listening ear. Till next Friday - Thanks All.
posted by Read@Peace | 1:00 AM
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