Recently I was struck with a very nasty tummy bug. It was awful! The pain and cramping was very severe and it lasted a good two weeks. After a few tests came back clear, the doctors decided it was a secondary infection which had followed on from Gastro which the kids had the week before.
Anyway, as a busy mum of five children, I thought I would leave you some survival tips on how to get through it if something like this ever hits you!
Tip Number 1: Accept Help
When you are sick, mum is generally out of action. In this case, I was literally unable to get out of bed. Thankfully, because it was the Christmas holidays, my husband was home to help with the children. Grandma also kindly offered to have two of my boys stay over for a few days dropping the number of kids to three! This in itself was a huge help. Two less baths, two less meals, two less munchkins making noise during the day.
Friends also kindly offered to look after the children, however because we were unsure what kind of infection it was this wasn’t the best idea. I gratefully accepted help from a few mums who were happy to cook and drop dinner over. This was an immense help and also very reassuring to know there are such kind people around!
Tip Number 2: Take Care of Yourself
Get lots of rest. This is the only way your body will recover quickly. Accept that things are out of your control for a little while and let others take over. My husband had to see to the children’s meals, manage their baths and bedtime on his own. I know it got overwhelming for him and this greatly bothered me lying in bed listening to the chaos. However, I knew there was little I could do so I continued to pray and offer up the pain. I thanked my husband for taking care of the children and running the errands.
- Keep up the proper meals and eat nutritiously (if you are able to eat)
- Take probiotic tablets to help restore good bacteria in your tummy
- Consume lots of fruits and veggies (the last thing you need is constipation, because lying down in bed makes your body weaker and your insides can get lazy!)
- Drink plenty of water (it is very easy to feel faint when you are already weak or in pain)
Tip Number 3: Get the Correct Diagnosis
As the pain became very severe, I ended up in the emergency department in the hospital several times with a drip to stay hydrated as well as stronger pain meds than I had at home. Unfortunately looking back at the whole episode, a better idea would have been to see my local GP sooner (say in the first week of the illness). The hospital was great in relieving the pain, however, because I was sent to emergency with nothing ‘life threatening’, they sent me home three times with no diagnosis simply ‘fixing’ my pain each time. It was not until I saw my GP and explained my visits to the emergency and being on such strong pain killers that she decided to run more tests to rule ut other things.
Tip Number 4: Stay Patient with Your Husband And Children
This was probably the hardest thing for me. Staying patient when you are in pain and not getting snappy with those around you is difficult. Listening to the chaos and constant questions from the kids certainly wasn’t easy. I also found that because I had no energy I also stopped my prayer life and hence found it difficult to be serene amongst it all. As I had not much strength to pray, I just kept repeating short phrases to God, “help me through this”, or interceding to Our Lady to keep me patient. Somehow He got me through it all! Lying in bed, I often tried to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary and contemplate the different scenes even if I was unable to pray the whole rosary. This helped me to keep presence of God.
For now, I hope you are all well and healthy! Sometimes however, God does let us go through a little suffering and the best thing we can do is to embrace the cross and use those difficult moments to grow more in love with Him.
Originally posted 2016-02-17 03:18:58.