If a picture is worth a thousand words, the above picture equates to a novel. This is the story of how the norovirus ruined Christmas. It all started with my wife. We were set to travel cross country to visit her parents for the holiday. However, three days prior to our departure she became violently ill out of both ends – I’ll leave it at that. As our departure day arrived she assured me she felt well enough to make the long drive home. So we packed up ourselves, our one year old daughter, and two dogs into our not so spacious Ford Edge.

On the second day of the trip our daughter has the blowout of a lifetime (as pictured). If you’ve read previous posts you know that I am a nurse and poop is my weakness. As I went to pull my daughter out of her car seat to check on her I felt something warm and wet – I immediately regretted not putting on gloves which is my normal routine (again I’m a nurse and creature of habit). After 20 wipes, three pairs of gloves, one destroyed onesie, and three near vomiting episodes we were ready to hit the road. Little did I know this gas station blowout would be the beginning of the end for our family Christmas.

When we arrived at my in-laws they had our favorite Indian takeout ready for us to share. The perfect meal for a super spreader event. As the night began to wind down and I lay in bed I started to feel the virus take hold. Within 20 minutes of my stomach starting to turn I was on the toilet unleashing hell from both ends. This led to me living on the couch for the next two days which was only steps away from the bathroom.

As I began to crawl out of my hole, my in-laws began to succumb to the virus. My father-in-law got the worst of it to the point he had to be hospitalized. As a result of the household becoming a cesspool of infectious disease the remaining family members opted not to come home for Christmas. People from all corners of the United States were set to arrive until they learned what we brought home. Needless to say there was a lot of apologizing on our end.

The moral of the story don’t mess with the norovirus and don’t create a super spreader event by going home to your elderly in-laws.

As always, please share your stories in the comments below.