that was not fun

So when I wrote that yesterday, I had no idea how "hastaymışım" would turn out to be. The cold/sore throat thing that has plagued me on and off for a week seemed to be clearing up. Indeed, the first thing I said to my housemate R. this morning was a cheerful "feeling so much better today!" But pride goeth before a fall, because soon after boarding the subway I started feeling dizzy, and upon arrival at work, I became violently ill. I was too sick to get back on the train, or even into a car, was rapidly getting dehydrated from the vomiting and cramps, and in a non-trivial amount of pain. I don't think I have been as sick as that since I was in Burma four years ago.

Thankfully (I suppose) there's a hospital on the same block as my office. I spent most of my day in its emergency room, being repeatedly examined by a kindly and awkward Israeli medical student. They put in an IV to rehydrate me and gave me some remarkably effective anti-nausea drugs, which worked wonders. I went from being curled up and shaking to feeling well enough to register boredom and look for reading material in the space of about twenty minutes. Three cheers for medical science! It took another couple of hours to get discharged and another hour to get home via a car service (this would have to happen to me during a taxi strike.) At least I had tossed a slim Ondaatje volume into my bag before heading to work in the morning. The ER experience was somewhat improved by his company.

I am home now and seem to be on the mend, if by mend we mean "able to keep Vitamin Water down and focus on a laptop screen." I want to point out that my housemate (and co-worker) R. is a total saint. She walked me to the emergency room and stopped in to check on me there about four times in the course of the day, and is bringing me saltines and more Vitamin Water even as I write, to be followed by assorted DVDs from SF's collection.

"Burn your sheets!" says my little sister (the future physician's assistant) via googlechat. Hah. No, I think I'll re-watch Shortbus instead.