Norovirus (I think)

[BrokenArrow 52]

Well, hello, everyone. It's been a while since I've been here. I've been doing quite good for quite some time. However, I find myself back on anxiety train.

My biggest concern has always been stomach issues and the thought of vomiting. For a while I was horrible thinking that I had appendix issues, and gallbladder issues, every type of cancer in that area and so forth and so on. 

Well, this morning my wife woke up vomiting pretty constantly. We spent the entire day in the hospital with them running tests and to make a long story short they told her she had a stomach bug and sent her home. After some anti-vomiting medicine and some rest she seems to be doing okay. However, my 2 year old woke up about an hour ago and threw up. He only did it once and it hasn't happened since the first time. He is sleeping soundly again and acts like it never happened. My wife looked like death this morning but seems to be fine now. My 4 year old is showing no symptoms and not acting sick at all and neither is my 1 year old. I also am showing no symptoms. 

I am terrified that I will wake up in the middle of the night with uncontrollable vomiting. Probably my worst fear in the world is vomiting and I feel like I am destined to catch it from either my wife or my 2 year old. My 2 year old went right back to bed after my wife cleaned him up and they are both sleeping. I can't sleep. I keep having gas and a bile taste in my mouth and I am fearing the worst. I understand that a stomach bug isn't the end of the world but it is just a fear I have never been able to shake. I pace the floors and I find myself shaking and sweating just at the thought of vomiting. I have been washing my hands frequently and trying my best to avoid getting sick, but I just worry so much that it is inevitable. 

[mollyfin 366]

First of all - you're not doomed to catch it, even with kids.  Keep washing your hands, wash surfaces regularly, don't share towels, bedding, etc, if possible.  I don't have kids but I do live with an adult who never learned to cover her mouth when she coughs, and I rarely catch things from her just by keeping my hands clean, regularly cleaning doorknobs/remote controls/faucets/etc (make sure whatever you're cleaning with kills the stomach virus) and using paper towels for hand towels.  

Second of all - I have the same fear as you, to the point where it's ridiculous.  I stay nauseated and miserable for ages instead of just throwing up and getting on with my day.  But I'll tell you, the last time I got the stomach flu (in 1998 I believe), it sucked, I felt miserable for 24 hours, and spent an entire night throwing up everywhere.  And while it was miserable, it wasn't THAT bad.  It wasn't as horrible as I'd feared.  To the point where a few months later, I overate and felt sick, so I just threw up and got on with my night.  Unfortunately overcoming the fear was temporary for me, but again, as crappy as it was to be sick, it turned out the fear of it was worse than the reality.  It would probably be the same for you.  

I get anti-nausea medication by prescription from my doctor, but if that's not possible for you, Emetrol works really well at controlling nausea; I always kept it around until I started getting zofran.  Cola, peppermint and ginger are also pretty good, and Gatorade is great for nausea (and helpful if you do end up getting sick).