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Out, out!




I was attacked by a nasty bout of food poisoning this week. Once your body senses that there are evil toxins in the belly and kicks into eject mode, there is just nothing you can do to stop the process. I won't turn your stomach with the details.... well, maybe just a few of them. I have to admit that some of the them were kind of funny.

The first wave of nausea hit while I was sitting in a meeting on Wednesday evening. After a few trips to the bathroom it became clear that staying in the meeting was not an option. Since I was there with Dean, I couldn't leave, so I dragged myself out to the car and lay down in the back seat. By this time I was throwing up every half hour. When the urge came, I would open the car door and grace the street with my stomach's rejects.

We were parked in a residential neighbourhood which meant that every so often people would pass by walking their dogs. It was uncanny how often my stomach's upheaval coincided with the dog walkers. I tried to delay things so as not to scare the humans and the canines, but once I had to crawl/dash into nearby bushes in order to preserve everyone's dignity.

On the drive home, Dean had to pull over once to accommodate my ejections and he managed to find a spot just after we passed a police car on patrol and before we had to get on the freeway.

Today (44 hours later) I am a few pounds lighter, on my second jug of Gatorade, and thrilled to be able to sit up for a few hours at a time.

The body is a marvel to me at times like this. When threatened, it jumps into action immediately and commandeers whatever resources it needs to get the job done. It forces itself to do really unpleasant things because it knows this will potentially save your life. Would that we were all so sensitive to poisons that threaten our bodies, souls, spirits, and communities.

The photo: at a restaurant with friends on Sunday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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