sick

There is an old joke that goes like this:

What is the difference between depression and diahrroeah?

In the former the bottom falls out of your world - in the latter the world falls out of your bottom.

The last 24 hours saw me experience a fair bit of the latter. But after 2 litres of Oral Rehydration Solution - lots of Tender-Loving-Care from Sheba and Asha and Enoch - and some horizontal time I am happily on the mend.

Last night I started vomitting at dinner (not on the table - but into our conveniently placed kitchen sink). The rest of the night was a whirr of different experiences - getting up at various points to empty or ingest various fluids. All along a throbbing back pain and the occasional outbreak of shivering. A sick puppy.

But how soon I experience normalcy. How luxurious our home is. How easy it is for me to take a day off sick.

This afternoon Sheba visited a home where the young man is semi-paralysed due to a seizure linked with his HIV. He cannot speak clearly. He was completely bedridden - but has gained some movement over the last months and now is able to go out occasionally. His sojourns outside have not been happy ones - most often to the local bar to get drunk.

When Sheba visited his home this afternoon he was lying in bed - drunk. The frustration and anguish was so clear in his family who are trying to care for him.

No easy answers. Sheba prayed with them and stepped out of the tiny room.