Norovirus

Last sunday we have an mini outbreak of sickness in the house. Everyone was fine & wonderful on saturday. After work Jim went out with some guy friends and returned home sometime very early sunday morning. A few hours later he started puking. When I heard this happening, my first thought was food poisioning. I got up that morning & tried to wake him. He didn't move a bit so I packed up the kids & went to church. I figured he would have slept it out & be feeling better by time I got back. Wrong.

He stayed in bed probably 23 of the 24 hours on sunday. The puking subdued, but he had massive body aches & severe tiredness. Monday rolled around & he still looked like a truck ran over him. He got up & went to work anyway (no big surprise, mr. I've only taken sick leave once in ten years). Other than work the rest of his time was spent in bed. Each day got better after that.

Mandy also had a touch of something. She was fine on sunday morning. After church she said she didn't feel good, but had no symptoms. She didn't eat lunch, but happily played outside for several hours. Later in the afternoon, she got a case of the pukies as well. She tried some chicken noodle soup for supper & couldn't keep that down either. I kept her home from school on monday, mostly for good measure. Sure enough, she was fine by then, but enjoyed a day home with me.

We concluded that Jim had the norovirus. There has been a huge outbreak in Monmouth, the next town over where we attend church. There have been over 80 reported cases to the health dept. It's especially rampid at Monmouth College where it is believed to have originated. Luckily Jim only had the short version of the virus. He's much better now, less than a week later. I'm not sure if Mandy's sickness was related or not. Hopefully no one else in the Peterson zoo will get this as well.