Okay, I knew it would happen one day in Vietnam. I got really sick yesterday. Actually, I have been sick with stomach problems since Wednesday but it got worse yesterday morning. I knew it was coming too so I told SEAMEO that I will not be coming in.

Then it happened. The worst stomach cramps I ever had since April, 1999, when I got food poisoning as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan. After a couple bowel movements, I started to get dehydrated. I knew that you must continue to hydrate after each bowel movement but since I only had water, I could not keep up. That was when all of my joints and muscles started to ache. I also had a horrible headache. I was dehydrated.

Lucky for me, I brought some Gatorade with me just for this occasion. In the Peace Corps, our Medical Officers would give us Gatorade since the Oral Rehydration Salts tasted terrible. Peace Corps Volunteers would get dehydrated since they refused to drink the ORS.

For the next couple of hours, I drank about 1.5 litters of Gatorade. By late afternoon, I was hydrated again and I had a lot of energy. I could walk downstairs again (earlier I was too weak to do that).

Most of my aches are gone by the evening but I still stomach cramps. Chau arrived in the evening and brought me this putrid smelling, horrible tasting juice. She told me to drink it fast. It burned going down my throat but you know something, it worked. Well I think it did. My body is back to normal this morning and I feel much better.

I am just going to rest today and tomorrow I plan to work again.

Cross-posted at: http://kevmille.livejournal.com/55340.html