Sickly-Ickly!

I stole that phrase from my sister because it fits perfectly! Last evening began a nasty episode for Coral with vomiting and diarrhea. Unless you have cared for a wheelchair-bound person who has uncontrolled vomiting and diarrhea, you probably only have a fuzzy picture of this. But trust me, if you could focus, it would not be pretty! It is amazing to me that her petite person could hold that much stuff, but it was clear her body did not want to keep it, so out it came. I can't let Coral lie down at times like this because of the danger of aspiration, so she sat in her chair and we all did the best we could. Dad pitched in like a trooper. In between bouts of retching and the resultant stuff out the other end (which nothing could contain), she gave me wan smiles and an occasional hug. I started giving her sips of Jello-water when it seemed there was nothing left to come up, and after awhile things calmed down.

Today she seems to be much better, but all of a sudden this morning she developed hives from her hands up to just above her elbows. The cause is a mystery to me -- leftover toxins? stress from dehydration? I know they were very uncomfortable for her, but as usual she did not complain, and in an hour or two they were gone again.

Now I have a queasy stomach and a headache...Will I succumb or will I conquer?? This is my first illness of the winter in spite of the awful bugs that have been circulating this year. Others in my situation have tried antacids at this stage of the game, all to no avail, I hear. So...I am taking another approach. I'm drinking apple cider vinegar diluted with water. This is an experiment but the only thing I can think of to try. I sure hope it works, because we are supposed to have two services in the prison tomorrow afternoon, and I don't want to let anyone down...

This sickly-ickly episode just reminds me again what wonderful bodies God has given us! Coral's immune system was galvanized into action and in 3 or 4 hours flat had totally cleaned her digestive system out and wiped out all those nasty little invaders. Yes, the process was unpleasant but it worked very well and very quickly, and what's more, her invisible soldier army is even stronger now to protect her from future attacks. Who but God could have thought of that and then designed a system that actually works? Of course, my little invisible army has wrinkles now but over the years it has built up muscles fighting infections she has never encountered. I will update you later and let you know if my vinegar ploy is one you might try some day!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." --Psalms 139:14