The Overlooked Blessing

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is blindness.

It was about 12:00 a.m Tuesday morning when I knew I was in trouble. My entire midsection felt bloated and my stomach unsettled. This was not good. Around 12:30, I knew I could have a bowel movement. That would solve my problems. 

I thought.

I had the bowel movement and within minutes I was back in the bathroom to enjoy a bout of projectile vomiting. Don't you just love that? Add to that a round of explosive diarrhea and you can probably write this post yourself. That went on most of the night, or early morning, to be more precise. Once, I fetched a barf bucket and filled it while experiencing diarrhea at the same time. I figure there was well over a liter of liquid in the barf bucket, and I added at least that much to the commode. I was sweating on top of all of that. Between these bouts I was drinking probably five or six ounces of iced green tea.

How can one keep that up over a few times and not die? Seriously. I must have lost over a hundred and fifty ounces of fluid per hour while taking in mere ounces. At the time, I was sure I could not live long, but morning came, not with joy, but with a cessation of of the hurling and retching. I slept most of the day, not all at once, but an hour at a time. 

Penny came home for lunch with a pork chop sandwich for me. Just the mention of pork chop sandwich almost made me hurl again. Before she left to go back to work, I told her there was something I could eat: a strawberry milkshake. She came home after 5:00 with my milkshake. I couldn't get it all down, but I consumed a full half of the large Sonic shake. I was hungry. I liked it. It tasted good and made me feel better. I put the remainder in the refrigerator for later.

Ice-cream. It is what I eat on my marathon swims. Why? For the same reasons I chose it after my bout of illness. It always goes down easy, is full of calories: protein, fat, and carbohydrate, as well as electrolytes. Besides all that, it is easy on the stomach. So try it the next time you have a stomach virus. You will be able to eat ice-cream and keep it down long before you can consume anything else.

Despite sleeping all day and feeling stir crazy by nightfall, I passed the whole night without waking once. Wednesday morning, I was able to eat a small bowl of cereal. Thank you, Jesus. I took a bath and ran a couple of errands. It wasn't much, but moving around even a little made me feel better. Later in the afternoon, I went to Plate City and worked out lightly. I didn't have the fire in the belly, nevertheless, I made some of my muscles do a little bit. That was good. 

Thank you, Dear God, for good health. I realize I take it for granted almost everyday. Forgive me and help me be more mindful of this great blessing. Take a moment and think of the unthanked blessings God has heaped upon you. Now take a few moments and give thanks. "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised." Psalm 145:3