The Dreaded Norovirus

A happy affair was celebrated this evening -- the return of dinner to Gavin's schedule. The normal fare disappeared from the menu when, a week ago this past Friday, Gavin evacuated his entire dinner into his bathtub.

Until just over a week ago, we had only heard rumors of the evil stomach bug that was taking down families back East and around town as well. We hoped that we would be spared the nausea, misery, and other symptoms of the Norovirus infection. Of course, that was just a fairy tale hope. I watched in horror as first Gavin went through a night of several episodes of vomiting followed by Kiersten falling ill 48 hours later. Unfortunately, she followed Gavin's lead and spent 12 hours commuting between the bed and bathroom, often crawling to make the trip.

Selfishly, I hoped against all hope that I would prove to have the invincible immune system of the family. Yet again, like a 16th-century Spanish galleon in a hurricane, my hopes sank 24 hours after Kiersten fell ill. Now we arrived at a situation that was unplanned and eye-opening. With no family or friends, what would we do if I got as sick as Kiersten? In the end, I proved to be either darn lucky or have that super-hero strength immune system and only had to endure a few hours of the worst that Gavin and Kiersten spent at least half a day suffering. The low point was lying on the floor, too nauseous to get up, with Gavin sitting in front of me miserable and crying and I just did not know what to do.

Kiersten and I recovered quickly and have felt fine for at least a week. Gavin, in the meantime, has had a rough week. His appetite returned quickly, but his gastrointestinal fortitude did not. We used tricks learned with past illnesses and experimented with his diet to help keep him fed, hydrated, and minimize his nausea and vomiting. It was a challenge to keep him happy and he seemed to always be hungry and be miserable for it. Finally, after watching his disposition improve by leaps and bounds over the past couple days, he had a normal day yesterday. Kiersten brought back the old daily menu of cereal, veggies, and meat to Gavin's delight. It has been a while since we have seen him so excited at mealtime!