There are good days and bad days. Yesterday was mostly a bad day. When I went to bed, my fever was back, and my abdominal cramps were excruciating. I couldn’t lay on my stomach because my abdomen was so tender. Around midnight, I decided to go to the nearest emergency room (18 miles from Sonora, in Elizabethtown).
The fact that I had a plan was comforting, but I had symptoms that were really concerning (which I won’t describe here to avoid alarming or offending anyone!), so I spent a little time self-diagnosing using Google search. Before you say anything, if you are a health professional, yes, I know this isn’t a good alternative to seeing an actual health provider!😁
I concluded that I probably contracted a food-borne illness, likely an E. coli infection. This kind of makes sense, since I haven’t eaten meat for 10 years, so any exposure to E. coli might find my immune system unguarded. But I was willing to leave it to the doctors to decide what it was, and what to do.
However, sometime during the night, my fever broke. All I’d eaten last night were a couple Clif bars (and TONS of fluids), and I woke up famished. After eating, I felt decent so I decided to forgo the emergency room.
I am glad I did, because today was a GOOD day. My appetite is back. I am no longer having intestinal cramps, although my abdomen is really tender, and it hurts like heck when I go over a bump. I think I will be back to normal in another day or two!
I met two Trans Am riders today! First I met Michael Krogh, who is traveling with his dog, Riley. We chatted for a few minutes until I stopped to rescue another box turtle on a steep hill. I had to go back to the bottom of the hill, because I couldn’t get started on the upslope, and Michael was considerably faster than I am, so I didn’t expect to see Michael and Riley again. Happily, I ran into them later and was able to get a picture!
Then I met Pippin. We chatted for a while, then had lunch together just before I stopped for the day. Pippin lives in Boston and wants to go to be a bike mechanic, so we talked about UBI’s bike mechanic training. I urged Pippin to contact them about scholarships for female students.
Finally, when I got to my motel for the night, I introduced myself to my neighbors, and not ONLY because they had three dogs! They just bought a retirement home in the area (moving from Connecticut) and are waiting for the deal to close. I can’t remember their names, but I remember their dogs’ names (OK, maybe I did introduce myself just because of the dogs!): Rollo, Reeses and Tootsie Pop. I quickly made friends with the dogs, especially Rollo, and when I walk outside, they get in a little trouble for ambling over to see me.
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