5FF: Comfort and Joy

***5 Things, About Fibro, Every Friday***

This week I had the pleasure of being stricken with a case of the stomach flu. Yay.  Surely, I should have expected my fibro to flare with this viral attack on my body. But frankly, I was a little distracted by all the time I spent making deposits to the porcelain bank. As I ponder over the experience, I have to wonder what I could have done to make myself more comfortable during the process. Basically, I want a Stomach Flu Emergency Kit to have on hand for when it happens again. And when you work with young children, it will happen again.

1. A soft heat source.  I love my heating pads to bits. However, when I get the stomach flu I tend to experience excruciating lower back pain. Add fibro pain on top of it, and it was unbearable. My heating pads are filled with rice that I heat in the microwave as needed. Not at all comfortable to have under a sore back, and resting on my stomach was out of the question. So I will get a stack of the "peel and stick" heat thingies. I'm a little freaked out about chemical reactions creating heat so close to my skin, but at least there should be no chance of my burning down the house because of them.

2. Pedialyte that hasn't expired. I keep Pedialyte on hand. Unfortunately, what I had was already expired.  I wasn't willing to experiment with expired Pedialyte and my upset tummy. Once I was able to get some down (hooray for DH!), the tender skin sensation subsided.

3.  Peppermint tea. I usually have some on hand, but naturally I am out. Even when I couldn't actually drink it, it would have been nice to be able to rinse my mouth out with some minty goodness.

4. A sleeping mask. Bright lights felt like sharp knives in my eyes. Even lights that I wouldn't normally consider bright seemed to set me over the edge. I made a mask for DH, looks like I need to make one for myself!

5.  Coloring books to keep Turtle entertained. Due to DH's work schedule, I spent of majority of the illness on my own with Turtle. Thank goodness she can entertain herself! Give her a new coloring book and you won't see her for hours. I didn't have any new books on hand for her, but I did let her dip into my art supplies. Friends and Family of Turtle: you can expect original Turtle paintings for Christmas!

Fortunately, neither DH or Turtle are showing symptoms, so if I could cross my fingers right now I would, in hopes that this is the end of the stomach flu at Casa C-Joy.

What do you like to keep on hand during flu season?

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