The Kuwaiti Crud

Thursday, 11/16/06
2130

Well, that’s what someone called it. Or should that be “The Kuwaiti Krud”? Whatever it’s called and however it’s spelled, I got it. I’ve felt kind of achy and lacking in energy for a few days. At first I thought it was a reaction to the flu shots we got last week, although I would have thought that would happen within a day or two, not a whole week later. So I just kept pushing myself, thinking I was just tired and would get over it.

Yesterday afternoon I felt especially crummy. I simply had no energy or motivation, couldn’t concentrate, and every joint in my body just ached. When my stomach started feeling sort of gurgly I decided it was time to call it a day and go to bed.

It turned out I did have some kind of a bug, and I stayed in bed for most of 24 hours. I slept almost the whole time, drinking water occasionally and eating nothing but a few bites of cereal and a handful of nuts (the salt tasted good!). Finally this evening I went to the mess hall for some food - chicken soup, some rice, and a couple of bananas. I topped it off with several cups of green tea flavored with Jasmine – one of my favorites. Although I still feel tired and a bit achy, I’m better now and will go in to work tomorrow.

It was weird to be here in my room for 24 hours straight. Because there are no windows, it doesn’t matter what time of night or day it is; it’s always the same. You turn out the light and it’s dark. Although there’s always somebody coming or going in the hallways, nobody makes much noise since there are always people sleeping here. The ventilation runs constantly, so there’s a steady low-level whooshing noise in the background. So it’s just the same all the time. I think this must be the way it feels to be deep inside a Navy ship.

I was surprised I was able to sleep as much as I did – I thought I’d start to get restless, but that was not the case. Every time I awakened, I would fidget around a little, put my head back down, and wake up a couple hours later. So I guess I needed the rest to fight off whatever kind of bug this was. Now that I’ve gotten it once, maybe I’ll be immune to future episodes. I’m unsure whether that will be the case or not. I hope so, since it wasn’t any fun.

For now it’s back to bed – I’m still kind of hungry, but I don’t want to eat too much and upset my stomach.

Mood: Tired
Music: Silence