My DH and I were visiting very close friends a couple of months ago and I came down with flu-like symptoms. I was as sick as I ever have been.

We were 250 miles from home and I don't think I would have been able to bear the car ride to return home. On the other hand, my illness was borderline "get me to a doctor."

Talk about awkward. Thank goodness the friends we were with were very good friends and claimed to understand. (They may have cursed our name and first-born after we left, but never showed it.) We tried to mitigate the situation by my staying in bed most of the time and not asking for special attention.

Our friends, however, did feel awkward and didn't want to leave me while they and my husband went out and about. I did convince them to go out one day and I slept the entire day, but could not eat a meal they prepared or manage to even hold my head up long enough to have a pleasant conversation.

My hair looked awful the whole time too.

I still was feeling dreadful when we left, but was not running a temperature. I crawled in the back seat (no goodbye hugs) and slept the entire way home.

Our friends assure me that they understood and thankfully did not catch whatever I had. My DH, however, was not so lucky and was sick for 4 days after coming home.

What I discovered is that the only thing worse than being sick is being sick away from home.

That's sounds awful for everyone. You all sound like good friends and gracious people.

M.D. house calls, including DX and RX run about $80. US here as we recently had family members in similar circumstances.
M

What a terrible experience for you Lois, but even in the midst of my sympathy for you, you gave me a chuckle--

"My hair looked awful the whole time too."

Now I will bet that you were the only one bothered by that. Isn't it amazing that we ( I mean women) still manage to think about our hair even when we are feeling as sick as you were??

Slightly different situation. My boyfriend of thirty years ago and his family came to visit me and meet my husband. Putting this in perspective, this guy was the only other person besides spouse I seriously considered marrying. Thank goodness we stayed friends as he is a wonderful guy. However, upon their arrival (literally within ten minutes) I developed a sneezing, coughing, gasping horrorible cold which was disgusting to hear and witness. I have never been so miserably ill in my life and here I am the hostess. Even my DH, long suffering fellow that he is, was ready to push me overboard. You are right, it would have been worse if we had been the visitors....maybe....

Our friends in London sent their daughter to visit NY and she stayed with friends for a while then came to stay with us.
The day she was to leave to go back home, she came down with appendicitis.
I rushed her to the hospital, I sat by her side , we were there when she came out of surgery, we took her home and nursed her til she was able to fly home, 2 wks later.
They were all so thankful that she was with friends and not in a hotel.
We were thankful for the same thing.
I have been so lucky not to have gotten that 'get me to a doctor' sick when traveling ...except for the food poisoning in Bermuda when the hotel suggested that I be flown home to a NY hospital

I am sorry you were so sick, I am glad that you were able to be nursed by people who cared. I am glad you are ok now

rockhopper, our friends ARE wonderful and have known us for 20+ years. Thank goodness they were not new acquaintances, but then we would not have been staying at their home if they were.

socialworker, I should be ashamed to admit that the condition of my hair really bothered me. I remember crying one night to my husband that I was a mess and I bet I look awful. His response to me: "Honey, it's okay. They know you don't look this bad all the time."

Which made me cry harder, and I couldn't even make him sleep on the sofa.

Seriously, this was truly terrible and I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It sounds like a funny story now and I'm sure it will be told by us and our friends into the future, but it was not funny at the time.

Still, if we can't laugh at ourselves, we would all be in trouble, wouldn't we?

When I was 15, I was in Europe (France) with a school group. I picked up a 24 hour stomach bug and so did my roommate. We spent the entire day throwing up and wishing we were home with mommy!! The next day, we recovered and had a great rest of the trip. Luckily it was a quick illness. It is awful to be sick when you are away.
I have traveled with colds and that isn't any fun, but when the plans are already made, there is not much you can do except sniff it up and hope it goes away quickly!!!(and nobody else gets it too!!)
It sounds like you had a terrible visit and you are lucky that you have such nice friends...Have they invited you back?? Just teasing you!!!

When we lived in NY, we came out to CA to visit my parents. At the end of the trip I came down with an awful case of food poisoning. I was very thankful to be at my parents home, but it was still difficult. My symptoms began on a Friday night and we flew home to NY on Monday. I was afraid I would not be able to fly, but somehow I managed. That was a truly miserable experience.

ugh, mms..I know how you felt. I flew from Bermuda to NY with a cold wet towel across my face. The other passengers must have worried that I was contagious .. there are not many miseries as bad as food poisoning..

Then there was the time I went to Key West Fantasy Fest. I had a sore throat and new I was getting major tonsilitis, but pretended I wasn't. We were staying with a friend on Deer Key and drove in and parked and started walking to the parade. Before we got there, I was ready to pass out, got the keys to the car and said I'd be there. Half way back, with a raging fever I got sick. I literally lay down on the sidewalk and was throwing up in the gutter. Of course every body passed me thinking I was drunk out of my mind. When I got a second wind, I managed to get to the car. I spend the whole evening and well into the night in the back seat of the car, opening the door every now and then to throw up some more out the door.

I spent the next two days sick in bed. Fortunately my friend worked at the hospital and "stole" me some drugs.

Had my tonsils out a couple months later (at age 40).

OMG, what horrible stories! I feel for all of you, it is horrible to get sick. Being at home is bad enough but not being at home is terrble. I have only been sick three times, and each time at a hotel. Once in Reno, a flu I guess, really sick. Second time in Mexico, and no it was not a stomach problem it was a horrible cough. My DH threatened to take me to the hospital in Matzalan he was so worried but the hotel sent him to a pharmacy and they gave him some kind of medication and within 48 hours I was just fine. Leave it to me to get a chest cough problem versus a stomach problem in Mexico LOL (I wasn't laughing then however). And the third time was in Italy. A friend got a virus, I got it, everyone in the group of friends got it. The hotel staff took such good care of me I think I had better care then my Italian friends who were in their houses.

And then there was my stepgrandson. He was with a school group in Moscow. And he came down with chickenpock. He was put in a tent in a sleeping bag on the grounds of the hotel. That is the worse story I have ever heard. We were horrified, but he lived to talk about it. Healthy travels to all!

Oh, heck! I'm going to the kitchen to make a sandwich before he posts the rest of the throw-up story.

My oldest and dearest friend, her DH and DS came to visit in July for 10 days. They haven't visited for 2 years - We were really looking forward to seeing them.

They arrived Friday, so far so good. Saturday we had a party to attend, Ooops friend not feeling well.
Sunday weather was wonderful but since she was feeling under the weather, we all sat on the deck for most of the day and caught up with gossip and news.

Monday they went to NY, basically on the way there she started to feel worse (ongoing health issues) when they got to the hotel she went to bed and didn't make it out of the hotel room for any length of time.

She did call to ask me to find out how much it would cost to bring their arrival date forward - No Chance! non-refundable tickets.

Wednesday they came back, Tickets were booked to leave on the Thursday - more sitting on the deck, while she slept or soaked in the tub.

Thursday they went home, the new one-way tickets cost as much as the original ones - actually more since they paid $200pp to upgrade to Business.

The next morning she arrived home, bathed, went to see her Doctor and within the hour was booked into the local hospital for the next week.

Thoughts - Did I feel awkward? No, this is my dearest friend.

Was I upset they left early? No, I certainly like to be in my own bed (or country) when I'm ill but I did worry about her having to endure a 7hr flight.

Do I hope they'll visit again? Yes please ASAP!!!!

I took my husband to the Caribbean to a resort for his 40th birthday. He had a raging fever when we left but he said he would be fine....he wasn't. He was sick all week but tried to sit out by the pool a few times. I remember I spent the week almost alone but mostly I remember that we were in an isolated beach resort and I had to keep getting his large sip bottle filled with orange juice - to the tune of $24 every time I filled it!

I had a cold before we left on a Christmas/New Year's trip to Mexico which turned into bronchitis while we were there.

This was the kind of bronchitis which involves lots of heavy, bringing-a-lung-up kind of coughing that people love to hear in public places and on planes.

No amount of cough medicine was able to suppress this hacking and snarfing.

One night, we were in a super fancy restaurant, and the waiter had just delivered our wine. We love to dress for dinner, and were resplendent in our finery and my husband was tasting the wine, when... da-da da-da (music from "Jaws") I started hacking and coughing and thought I was going to pass out or throw up.

I had to RUN to the ladies room - wheezing and urking and sounding like a chainsaw under water - the whole way. I'll never forget the look of utter disdain and disgust on the waiter's face.

Upon return, the doc said I was one step away from the hospital.

On the bright side, the exact combination of one beer, one shot of tequila, and Mexican Actifed seems to have some kind of aphrodisiacal effect on people with bronchitis. I know, I know - tmi...

We took a cruise during the time of the Norwalk (sp?)Virus and as a percaution asked our doctor for suppositories to take with us "just in case". I'm so glad we did as I did come down with it the day we left and they sure helped with the nausea. We had hours to wait at the airport for our return flight and I was wraped around the toilet most of the time. The rest of the time I had to find a place in the airport to lay down, anyplace, it didn't matter, and then the flight home when I had to explain to the guy in the third seat that I would not breath on him....

These stories are awful, it's terrible to be sick, but to be sick and not be home is worse. And Patrick, I bet it was hotter N hell in that back seat!

I ALWAYS seem to get sick when I'm traveling - I'm shocked I still love it so much. The funny thing is that my hubby is the one always afraid of getting sick when we're away, but I'm usually the one who does. A few notable:

1. Traveling back from Venezuala, I was so sick (both ends) that I fell asleep in the airport in Caracus on the floor for hours and then was sick on the plane the whole way back - I was then out of school for two weeks - yes, they do mean it when they say don't drink the water - or in my case, don't have ice in your drinks.

2. My first day in Toulon, France for my student exchange, I got sick in school and was out for two days.

3. Food poisoning in Florida.

I got sick while I was in England a few years ago. I'd spent a week doing a bus tour of Scotland and was worn out. By the time I got to Swindown to stay with a couple I didn't now all that well, I was toast.

Fortunately, they were very kind. I had enough strength to do one day of touristy things. The other three days until I left were spent on their sofa or up in bed, sneezing and coughing. They treated me wonderfully well.

Another time, my parents were returning from a visit to Ohio and I was picking them up from the airport. My poor father, who had Parkinson's, was in a wheelchair. Usually, my mother and I can help him just fine. But she was sick as a dog this time. I pulled up and she barely made it into the backseat. Some kind Samaritan jumped up from his seat and helped me get Dad into the front seat, helped me put the bags in the trunk. He was my angel that day!

You don't want to know the details, but I learned how to say "Do you have Monistat?" in both Germany and Holland, way back when I was in my 20's. Actually my cousin said it for me in Belgium as well.

It was the only time I ever had any condition in that category. Talk about uncomfortable. It started on the 2nd day of the trip and by the 10th day of the 15 day trip, the beer in Belgium and Germany helped with the cure. Also kept me from feeling the constant
torture as much.

Later I found out that it is the most common health incident for women, more common that catching a cold. Water/ hydration issues with travel and also
wearing heavy jeans or clothing that does not breathe when you are very
warm or hot. AND was I. (Compared to Chicago all places were/are hot.)

Funny thing was that despite all I did have a great time, especially in Berlin and in East Germany.

I'll take the head cold I get in AZ over that one anyday.