Last Friday I stayed home from work because of a pretty severe cold. As the day progressed it got worse and I was feeling lethargic. When I finally lied down to rest for the night my stomach made a gurgling sound. Diarrhea came soon afterward and lasted through the night. Well, actually, it lasted through the next night. And the next. I decided to power through work on Monday and put in my typical 10 hour day only to find myself bottomed out on Tuesday morning. So I went to the hospital Tuesday morning and got some meds to treat the symptoms. It was some kind of virus which western medicine can’t do a lot about but let it run its course. My mother-in-law keeps reminding me that Chinese medicine can help with virus. I stayed home the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday, feeling at my weakest point on Wednesday afternoon. When I woke up on Thursday and stepped on the scale I learned I had lost 11 pounds in six days. Thursday has been a much better day, small meals taste good and are no longer making my stomach churn. Some of my energy is coming back. Tomorrow I board a plane for a short 11 hour flight to San Francisco.
Having this forced time at home during the week has exposed me to a another set of family rhythms. Elisa in front of the TV while the ayi washes the morning dishes. Elisa’s best friend stopping by morning and afternoon and saying “Elisa baba” when she sees me. Elisa getting into manic happy baby mood just before she lies down for her afternoon nap. Aidan and Lydia bounding into the house, home from school. Aidan breezing through his homework. Lydia frustrated with doing subtractions. Me trying to help he with that and some other math which is essentially algebra. The fetching of supplies and then the cooking of lunch and dinner which takes hours.
Yang has been on a business trip to Qingdao since Monday and in her place Yang’s mom has shown up. Yang’s mom is pretty sure how to treat my stomach flu – the Chinese way. Food should be a simple rice porridge. Medicine a Chinese mix. Lots of sleep. When I went to the doctor Tuesday she followed along to help out with the translation. She was very pleased when the doctor suggested I keep to simple foods, such as porridge. At that time, I would have welcomed any food that worked.
But being home when you are not feeling great isn’t a great thing. There is nothing to do really and there is nothing you really feel like doing. Sure, I finished season three of Breaking Bad and started into the new Season of Mad Man. I read the Chronicle on my Kindle. But none of these felt very fun, just a kind of purgatory until my stomach starting feeling better. Which it is starting to now, at last.