WARNING: this blog entry is about food poisoning. I really
don’t go into too much detail but if you hate bodily functions don’t read on.
Also don’t read on if you’re hoping to get some gross descriptive prose on me
being sick cause that also doesn’t occur here. I do however talk a little microbiology cause really, how
could I resist?
Saturday night we were all out at a
club in town called Ch-ch-changes, really its just called Changes but I like to
sing it like the David Bowie song. At about midnight I realize I’m feeling really
sick and ask to get a ride home. That’s when it all began…the debilitating
stomach cramps, the naseau and yes…diarrhea. In clinical microbiology class we
always made jokes about how the class was really just about all the different
types of bacteria that can cause humans to have diarrhea. But now I was
relieved for the month long lectures on the gut microbiome, Dr. Doug Johnson
had prepared me well for this catastrophe.
I
started wracking my brain of what did I eat the last few days? Did I not wash
my hands often enough? Had I pet any ducklings in the past 12 hours?
Really…baby ducks carry salmonella, they infected like a whole class of
kindergarteners once so watch out. Also baby turtles have salmonella on their
shells, they’re adorable carriers of indigestion. Anyway, I realized it had to
be the most obvious thing- chicken wings. Friday after work Nick and I went to
a bar close to our house and ordered chicken wings. Nick is fine, but I also
think part of why I was hit so hard is because I’ve never had bad food
poisoning before. So my delicate and antibody-free gut was unable to clear the
invasion of E.coli, campylobacter, shigella, or whatever had decided to
colonize my intestines and wreak havoc on my native microbiome.
After
two days I still hoped that my body would be able to get rid of this on its
own. I thought, my immune system is kick-ass, its never let me down before.
Sure I get a head cold like once a year but it only lasts for a week. I look up on google what to eat and
drink and learn about the BRAT diet, (bananas, rice, apples, and toast). Oh so
that McChicken sandwich I ate yesterday was not the best idea. Hey, I know it
was stupid but it looked delicious, we all make bad decisions in our life.
After the BRAT discovery it was all I ate as well as guzzling powerades and
energades to keep the dehydration at bay.
Unfortunately
the cramps did not cease. All I had eaten that day was a piece of toast and a
spoonful of rice. How could my digestive system still be in revolt!! I started
to think, ‘hey at least you’re probably losing some weight that’s not too bad’.
But then another gut-wrenching (not even a pun, totally accurate statement)
began and all I could think is, ‘not like this, if this stops I’ll work out and
not eat as much Panoratti’s pizza to lose weight’. The next morning I called a
medical clinic close to our house for an appointment. By 1 o’clock I had
broad-spectrum antibiotics, probiotics and another medicine for the stomach
cramps. All for only 150R (that’s $15 CRAZY). For you other microbiology nerds
out there, the antibiotic I got is ciproflaxcin, a quinolone derivate that
inhibits bacterial DNA gyrase. DNA gyrase is necessary for the replication of
bacterial DNA, so no more DNA no more bacteria. Microbiology YEAAAH!
So
now I’m still on antibiotic regimen and will hopefully be able to eat outside
of the BRAT diet in the next few days. I’m not sure if it’s the nutritional
deficiency causing delirium thats caused my oversharing or my overwhelming
obsessions with microbes but either way here it is! Also shout out to Nick and
Nora who’ve been my energade delivery system as well as always checking in on
me. Without you guys I would’ve been lacking so many electrolytes as well as
depressed of being sick only two weeks into South Africa, thanks so much!
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