for what i think is the first time in my life, i got food poisoning. no, not in india, cambodia, china, egypt, or morocco (places i’ve visited with nary an effect), but in los angeles. yes, the one place i would never think of bringing my cipro and imodium to (i mean, i’m from there, you know?), BAM!
i’m not going to name names since i can’t be 100% certain what caused it, but it was highly likely this currywurst meal from a very popular new place.
i don’t think it was the wurst specifically, since my brother had a different kind of sausage and also got sick, so perhaps the food handling or something in the ketchup or curry or bread, or maybe even the water. i have to admit, it was a really delicious meal, but yeah, a couple hours later we were both feeling it.
i was in much better shape than he was initially. he got most of it up within three or four hours, but it took me about double that time to do so.
and i did it on a plane.
luckily in the toilet. everything.
and luckily in the first class cabin (got upgraded) so there wasn’t a line of people waiting on me to get out of the lav. oh, that was also the second time (that i recall) that i’ve ever thrown up on a plane, too. (first time in a bag during some rough turbulence.)
but hot damn, did that make me feel better. it’s taken until today (wednesday morning; i had the currywurst on sunday afternoon) for me to feel completely back to normal, if not a bit worn out. the worst part was that i was constantly either too hot or too cold (i remember shivering for 20 minutes until i took a hot shower followed by immediate cocooning in bed with an electric blanket).
definitely an unpleasant experience, and not one i ever want to go through again. i think i’ve had it relatively mild compared to some of the horror stories i’ve heard. i was talking with the flight attendant on that fateful flight, and she told me she got food poisoning in Thailand and had to be hospitalized, and another time in Berlin and was luckily well taken care of by Lufthansa flight attendants on the way home. a coworker told me he was once laid up for a week after a bad bout, and i remember an old classmate got Hepatitis A from eating contaminated food. yeesh!
hm. i need to somehow find a way to get a supply of cipro just to have on me in case i ever run (ha, get it? run?) into this again.
Taking cipro every time you have food poisoning (despite the horror stories) is probably a bad idea — ask your doctor. But yeah, I’ve had gastroenteritis of one kind or another probably 5 times, and only once was abroad (in China, on an overnight train … fail …). Anyway, I TOLD you you should have come to Gallifrey One! Heehee. (We went past a hotel with a ridiculous waterfall on the way out & I thought of you!)
haha yeah, i’m sure it’d just breed horrible antibiotic-resistant nasties that’ll engulf me :. yes, gallifrey one sounds like it would have been much more pleasant!!