Vanquished by Potato Salad

BLARG. What a waste of weekend time. I'd been feeling a little puny last week, fighting a mild cold. It was mostly nasal congestion and that fuzzy-headed feeling but it never got too bad. It seemed to peak on Wednesday; by Friday I thought it was gone and was looking forward to the weekend. Friday night, however, my throat started getting sore and it seemed that we were moving on to the chest-congestion portion of my illness. It wasn't that bad, though, so after some hot tea on Saturday I thought I was going to be okay.

Then late Sunday afternoon I started to get a headache that got worse and worse and worse. At first I attributed it to the wine I had been drinking, although I found it curious in that I'd had this particular wine before without any ill effects, nor had I imbibed an excessive amount. Still, I figured I would go and lie down for a while, and after a short nap all would be well. I was wrong. Wrong in a "Dewey Defeats Truman" kind of way.

The headache got worse and after an hour or so, the vomiting started. The cold/chest congestion plays a part here because every time I had an "episode", cleaned up, felt better and got back into bed, a coughing fit would ensue before long, the coughing spasms eventually leading to...well, I'll spare you the details. But this was the absolute worst I can remember feeling in my adult life, between the upset stomach, the near-migraine and the coughing.

I believe the culprit to be food poisoning induced by some deli potato salad, because that's the only thing in the last 3 days that I've eaten but Alan hasn't. He actually tasted the potato salad, but he had one forkful while I spooned two scoops onto my plate. It didn't taste "off" - in fact it was quite good - but the potato salad has to be the villain as the rest of my diet this weekend (smoked Gouda, havarti, Carr's biscuits) seems innocuous enough.

I stayed home from work today - called in sick to The Boss's voice mail at around 3:20 this morning. I feel a bit better, the metaphorical spike having disappeared from my left temple, but I'm kinda shaky and my stomach isn't sure the revolt is over. I've sipped a Sprite without incident, but I'm not feeling brave enough to move up to saltines. I think the worst is over, and as soon as I'm strong enough, Mom? I'd like a word with you on that whole 'eat your vegetables they're good for you' thing.