Cav's Place

Tuesday seemed to have started well enough, though I was still a bit disappointed in the end. The plan was to run five laps around the lake, so 16 kilometers, on little sleep and not just managing a better time than the 1:24:45 managed for the first five laps two weeks ago, but also covering each lap in under 17 minutes. And after first waking up at 7:05 AM and going to the toilet, I said I’ll spend a few more minutes under the blanket and ended up falling asleep again, waking back up at 8:20 AM. Then I ate a bit, didn’t manage to take a dump as well despite trying, yet the time was 1:24:06 despite the, shall we say, added weight, plus gas and some cramps and heartburn. Sector times were 4:46, 5:32, 6:24, 4:50, 5:34, 6:33, 4:56, 5:27, 6:29, 4:55, 5:34, 6:22, 5:01, 5:27, 6:16, making for lap times of 16:42, 16:57, 16:52, 16:51 and 16:44. So I used the first two laps to set the fast and slow limits, then pressed the pedal a bit more with each one that followed, ending up just two seconds shy of the fast first lap on the last one, and with the fastest sector three and joint fastest sector two on that lap as well. The disappointment was due to the fact that I was quite close to getting under 1:24 as well, but didn’t.

The problems started after that, and yes, this post will be a case of too much information, as I had taken a shower and was reading when the symptoms announcing something seriously wrong with my digestive system hit in force. More gas, worse cramps, chills, headaches, that feeling of my whole flesh hurting, getting somewhat dizzy and feeling increasingly nauseous. Still, tried to pull through and even got to making myself something to eat after dad left, but could just barely manage to hold on there in the kitchen until I was done, then left the food there and went to the bathroom, trying to get stuff out the rear end, though I had already taken a dump before showering, and admittedly there had been some reasons for concern then already. But then again, had noticed a few things not quite right on previous days as well, and knew that my grandmother, mother and cousin had had some pretty bad problems of that sort after Easter and my mother had come back from there still pretty much like that and had brought some food as well, so it seemed likely that I was next in line to be affected by whatever that was. Of course, the effort may have been the cause as well, or at least a part of it.
Either way, as I was sitting there, not managing anything, I realized my digestive system was pretty much locked down, and I had turned very pale and my fingers were turning purple. And when I checked, I saw that it was happening at least to my big toes as well. So it was clear my body was acting as if poisoned and I had to stop resisting and do what it wanted me to, therefore threw up everything I could, finding it interesting that for example each slice of the orange I had eaten right after coming back from the run came back out exactly as it had gone in hours earlier, and also that I apparently just swallow said slices pretty much whole.
After that, crawled in bed and noticed that it was manageable as long as I was face up and pretty much not moving, other than maybe to massage my stomach, and that led to mostly getting rid of the chills and to my fingers no longer being purple. Rolling on my right side was sort of all right as well, but I didn’t dare stay like that too long. Turn on my left, however, or try getting up, and stuff started bubbling around and I suddenly felt very nauseous again. So I pretty much just stayed there, unable to at least sleep, until some time after 8 PM, when I tried to go to the toilet again. No luck that time either, so I listened to my body again and really tried to throw up all that was left, seeing some greenish-black, or very dark green, stuff that I couldn’t explain over everything. Looked like dust if you ignored the color.
After that it seemed sort of all right to sit as well, so I could read some more and get on the computer. And after finally managing to nap a bit, something seemed to get moving again, so I could get some stuff out the rear end as well, albeit only a little at first. A second attempt, at night, after more napping, seemed to have pretty much cleared everything out though. And I obviously wanted to make sure it stayed clear, so didn’t try to eat anything that night, and I didn’t even drink again until late, and definitely not enough even then.

The lack of drinking was obviously a problem, and would have been even without this additional loss of fluids, as I hadn’t had enough to recover even what was lost due to the run. I mean, I don’t usually feel thirst and drink a fair amount less than they say you’re supposed to, but besides pissing dark orange I was quite clearly feeling dehydrated, on top of obviously weak due to the lack of food. Still, other than that and some headaches, things seemed more or less all right the next day, and I even managed to squeeze a few tiny bits out the rear end that were actually rather solid. Not that I was about to risk anything, of course.
Did mean to make myself more tea and try some toast with some cheese after waking up, but dad came just when I was in the kitchen, brought some things which he started throwing here and there, then my mother woke up as well, kitchen got crowded, a part of a small bag dad threw on the table ended up on the plate I meant to use, he again showed his disregard for food hygiene when I complained, and I got annoyed and just left, only taking the tea I had left from the previous day, which I had just heated again. And my mother pretty much stayed in the kitchen after that, so I only got back there around 10:30 PM, when she went to shower, at which point I did quickly make and eat that toast while also making the tea.
Still, maybe it was better that way, giving my body several more hours, because I didn’t feel anything wrong after the toast, but after I ate more or less normally, minus the salad, that night, that changed. But while there were signs that my digestive system couldn’t quite deal with the food yet, those bad symptoms hadn’t quite returned, so pretty much as soon as I finished eating I took some gum which I kept chewing until I went to sleep, spent some time in bed before getting back to the computer for a bit, and massaged my stomach pretty much constantly until going to sleep. And that seemed to have been enough to keep it under control.

The original plan was to run again Thursday or Friday, since I want two more runs before the race, but don’t want to run that week and next week seems somewhat more windy, so the conditions would have been better for that additional run now. That was obviously out of the question, leaving me checking the forecast every day to see when I should try to schedule two runs next week, but at this point it’s still a matter of making sure I recover and that the problems won’t reappear, because I definitely need to be in very good shape two weeks from now and can’t afford anything like this. I mean, I have a goal now, which is rare, and I think I may actually have a chance to achieve it, which is even rarer, so I need things to get aligned right, and having something like this happen sure got me right back to worrying and fearing and thinking it may just all fall apart and maybe I won’t even be able to take part, or at least that I won’t finish.

Still, Thursday after waking up I had yogurt and cereal again, as well as some of the cake dad had brought the day before, and then I did go out, leaving around 2:30 PM and only getting back for good around 10:20 PM, though I dropped things off twice in between. Went to buy some things and checked out three hypermarkets, going to two of them twice, to squeeze out every last bit of the money I had been given, as after setting aside a small amount I’ll need for something else soon, I returned with all of 0.01 RON, and that was after finding two such coins on the floor of one hypermarket, which actually only made it fair, as the cashier had rounded the change to the nearest 0.05, which they tend to do, giving me just 0.02 less as a result.
As for how I felt, it was more or less all right when I woke up and then it stayed that way during the day, as I wouldn’t have done all that otherwise. Still had gas, after waking up there was still a slight feeling of something coming back up and the taste of garlic and, oddly, of the tea, if I was making a bit more effort on the way, such as sprinting to catch a green light, there were some brief light cramps, and there was even more gas after having an orange and a bit of some organic carbonated apple juice dad had brought after I got back in the evening, but didn’t actually feel nauseous again and other symptoms didn’t return. Something definitely didn’t feel all right after I ate that night though, obvious signs that things still weren’t functioning as they should, but it was significantly less bad and easier to control than the night before.

One problem left until today was that things still didn’t seem to be moving through the digestive system all the way, so I was increasingly bloated and hadn’t managed to shit again after those few tiny bits from Wednesday, despite actually trying a couple of times. What’s more, not even gas seemed to be going that way, almost all tending to choose the upper way out. So when I managed a more normal fart last evening I took it as a very good sign, despite the utterly rotten smell. And that improvement seemed to continue as several others like it, including the smell, followed last night, and then I finally managed to take a dump again today, and it seemed quite normal. Also, while it’s not all quite right yet, can’t say that things felt particularly wrong after eating last night anymore, nor after what I had after waking up today. So this at least seems significantly less serious than what I experienced back in 2009. (By the way, that post even now remains the most popular by far…) Now let’s hope it stays that way, as in that it really is getting cured now, and that it’ll be cured completely and not return.

Otherwise, after Thursday evening I was fearing I’ll fall behind and not manage to finish it Saturday after all, I actually pushed a bit yesterday and finished The Well of Ascension then. Minutes before midnight, in fact. Didn’t also try to write the quick review for it then though, the initial plan being to do that today and give in and end up with a Sunday update after all, but then I decided to keep avoiding that and write this now instead, leaving that for tomorrow, just so I’ll have it as this week’s second post, obviously on a different day than the first one, as the rule is. Hope there will be nothing preventing me from posting it then, as I want to do what I usually do, post it here and on Goodreads at the same time, so can’t write it now and just schedule it to be published tomorrow. Plus, my brain doesn’t quite want to try to handle that now as well, right after writing this.