e. coli

Escherichia coli (E. coli), is one of the main species of bacteria living in the lower intestines of mammals, known as gut flora.

Tuesday night on the way home from work I started to feel a little feverish. It was followed quickly by stomach cramps and diarrhea. By Wednesday morning my fever had reached 103 degrees and was still slowly rising so I went to the ER at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.

I arrived around noon and was diagnosed with possible food poisoning or appendicitis. They gave me a catscan and a chest x-ray and determined that I didn't have appendicitis but I did have an inflamed small intestine which pointed towards food poisoning or Crohn's disease. I was admitted to the hospital overnight with a colonoscopy scheduled the following afternoon. I finally was given a room at 11pm after spending over 10 hours in the ER.

That night was one of most uncomfortable nights of my life. They gave me a gallon of "go lightly" to clean myself out to prepare for the colonoscopy. "Go lightly" is a laxative that tastes like sweat. Not only did I have to force myself to drink a gallon of liquid that tasted like sweat-socks, the liquid made my diarrhea even worse. I was up all night, constantly using the bathroom, walking back and forth between the bed and the bathroom trying to keep my gown closed and holding my iv bag while enduring constant cramps. btw, I don't think I'll be able to watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's" without feeling the urge to poo.

Finally on Thursday afternoon I had the colonoscopy which just confirmed that I had an inflamed intestine. They took samples to see what exactly was growing in my stomach and put me on anti-biotics. The upside of the colonsocopy, the laxatives, the inability to eat for 48 hours and an overall lack of appetite was that I lost 8 lbs in 2 days.

I started feeling better that night as my fever dropped and by Friday morning I was almost back to normal. Of course, the hospital didn't discharge me until Saturday afternoon. I can't remember the last time I was so bored. I actually got sick of playing my DS for a time being. Best of all, USA had some sort of Keanu Reeves marathon going on... it really wasn't my week.

Ironically, even though I've been eating at all these dives and street vendors in Chinatown I probably got e.coli from eating something from the work cafeteria salad bar that wasn't properly cleaned such as lettuce and/or bell peppers.