I’m Still Alive. Thanks For Asking??

I have not blogged in a while, and no one called Blogger Patrol to look for me? Ah, you people have done me wrong. Since I know you’re dying to know, I will indulge you …

I’ve been a little ill. Nothing to be alarmed over, but I’ve been down with gastroenteritis, as my father always loves to say. If you want to save yourself a few syllables and possible tongue twister, you may just call it as I call it: stomach virus. Or better yet, stomach flu. It is caught mostly by coming in contact with contaminated food. iConfess, I have been eating out a lot recently.

When I was in boarding in school, I only survived one semester because my tummy couldn’t handle the food and water. It wasn’t the taste that bothered me. It was the pain that came after the food. And so, after one semester of running to the hospital every other week, my hate affair with boarding school came to an end.

I’m over a decade older, but I still have the same problem. It appears my immune system does not handle contaminated food well. I shudder to think of what I will go through when I visit Nigeria and eat on the street.  I don’t care what kind of pain I might suffer, but I must eat road side akara, suya, masa, roasted corn, and even mama put. May the good Lord be my Helper. And ultimately, my Healer.

On that note, I have been throwing up a whole lot. It’s been this yellowish liquid that leaves my throat feeling like I chewed raw ginger. Talk about getting gingered. The throwing up, I could deal with. It was the pain that crippled me. It was literally crippling. I tried my best to not make it sound as bad as it was. I tried to carry out my daily activities in spite of the pain. Several times, I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain. I did not fear for my life though. How can I die? I am not done living. There’s still so much to do.

And so, while I was doubled over in pain, I said out loud several times, “This pain will not be the death of me.” Yesterday was the absolute worst. I was in bed for most of the day, either in pain or recovering from a bout of pain. I threw up at about 10 or 11 pm. It was all the liquid I had in me – with the exception of my blood. Throwing up was so painful because I had not eaten any solid food all day and my body just wanted to throw everything up, but there was nothing left. And each time my stomach contracted, trying to force out something that wasn’t there, it was accompanied by a new bout of pain.

But hey, I felt better after I was done. And I’m thankful that it wasn’t worse. A lot of  people have bigger problems. Now that  I’m done giving you the gory details you asked for, I think I may now commence to regular blogging – whatever that may be.

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By the way, if you have not been listening to the Verastically Speakin’ Show hosted by yours truly, then you are on the longest thing. Last weekend, we had a very interesting show. We talked about the past and how much of it should be shared. When you meet a new person, how much of your history should you tell him/her?  Would you tell him/her everything about who you’ve slept with? Criminal history? Health? Would you tell your partner that way back when, you used to sleep with his/her best friend? Would you tell your partner that way back when you caught an STI? Or that you went to jail for selling drugs or stealing?

It was co-hosted by the ever-engaging Mustapha. The bad news is, you missed Part I of the show. The good news is, Part II is this Saturday, still with Mustapha.  The other good news is that we’re always looking for show topics and co-hosts. Even if you cannot co-host but know someone who will be great for the show, let me know. I’ll gladly contact him/her. So apply within >> radio@verastic.com

Listen to Saturday’s show, The Past That Continues To Be Present – Part I HERE. And tune in for this Saturday’s show, The Past That Continues To Be Present  – Part II HERE (Saturday, September 24th at 11 AM U.S Eastern Time or 4 PM Nigerian Time).