Stomach "Flu" Floating About Springfield, Illinois

First of all the term "flu" to describe an intestinal parasite or virus is a misnomer, but that's how I'll refer to it in this post. Starting early last week my teenage daughter said she wasn't feeling well. We suspected it was a hangover, but after several days when it wouldn't go away we suspected either a bacterial or viral infection.

My daughter being sick is nothing new. Her party girl lifestyle being what it is has made her our family's "Canary in a Coal Mine", and so if something is floating about Springfield, Illinois - she's had it.

And so when she started puking her guts out and missing school, and after we eliminated hangover, we suspected a virus or bacterial infection.

It has been here, at least in our household, ever since.

I've felt it deep within the pit of my stomach - or is that an ulcer, and I've felt it in my sense of fatigue - or is it just stress, and in the lingering tingling sensation of warmth upon my skin. Yet for the most part it has subsided without doing any damage to me. I suspect I must have been visited by this bug before, perhaps in another strain, but that I have some degree of immunity to it.

However, this morning my wife has been sick as a dog. It is probably related to her experience of having to worry about her daughter coming back home last night, and then dealing with a drunken, high, and abusive teenage girl. That's a lot of stress to handle at five in the morning.

My prior post relates our story of having to wait until four thirty in the morning for our teenage daughter to show up home after a night of drinking and pot use - and - realizing that this party girl drove back from her latest motel party while under the influence of alcohol.

So now my wife is showing all the signs of this stomach flu, and it has proven to me that this intestinal flu was just smoldering, and waiting for a chance to rear its ugly head again.

My wife has called a pharmacist for some quick, free, and unofficial medical advice, and it turns out that other folk in Springfield, Illinois have been hit with this stomach flu too.

So folks make sure to keep your stress levels down, get plenty of sleep, and wash your hands before putting them in contact with your mouth or anything that is heading that direction.

It might be an airborne pathogen so I'd suggest some other measures as well - but it involves not kissing on the lips, turning your vents on to bring a greater level of fresh air into your house, and generally acting like a germ freak, which probably beats hanging out at the toilet with diarrhea, and vomiting a lot.