Exposure to Illness

On Thursday, a friend called me in distress. During the night she had passed out on the toilet and she was feeling weak and sick. Her husband is overseas and she couldn't function. The worst part for her was that she was rendered incapable of taking care of her son, who is the same age as Jude.

I raced over to her house and brought her and her son back to our place. I then let her sleep and I took the kids out for a few hours. When I got back I made her lunch, the first food she'd been able to keep down for 24 hours.

She wanted to spend the night in her own bed, so I took her home and the next day I called her in the morning. She said she was waiting for her parents to come, but they would be a few hours. I insisted on waiting with her, so I took myself off to her place to watch her son while she slept.

She was so incredibly sick. I ended up taking her to the doctor while we waited for her parents. She was vomiting constantly, and due to low blood pressure she could barely stand up.

I was very happy to help my friend in need. It was an honour to be called on for help during a time of great personal need. However, that afternoon I started to feel sick and then panic set in. What had I done? Had I exposed myself to a really awful illness that was causing complete havoc on a perfectly healthy woman? How would it effect me and my baby?

Thankfully my sickness has proven to be a bad sore throat, headache and general malaise. Certainly not fainting and non-stop vomiting. All the same, it made me realise that a pregnant woman has a lot to consider in such situations, and I'm not sure I did the right thing taking care of my sick friend, although I can't see how I could have done anything differently when she needed me so much.