Willem had a not-so-fun bout with Stomach Flu this past weekend. I should probably preface the rest of this post with the following disclaimer:

Do not try to eat while reading this post. Stomach Flu is not an appetizing illness to read about.

Starting on Thursday morning, he showed symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. A call to the doctor resulted in an over-the-phone diagnosis of stomach flu (gastroenteritis – which, despite its moniker, has nothing to do with influenza). Will was actually mostly fine Thursday and Friday. His bum was sore from being cleaned up with baby wipes too many times in one day, but he was acting fine.

Saturday is when everything took a turn for the worse. Malin got hit with the three P’s: pee, poop, and puke. And not even at the same time, so she actually had to change clothes three times! Will was in a horrible mood, and Malin and I were terribly worried. The most disturbing facet of the day was (warning: the remainder of this sentence is really gross) that his poo was watery and smelled like vomit.

He seemed to start feeling better around 4pm on Saturday. So I took that opportunity to head over to the homebrew store (since it would be my only opportunity to get over there until the following Saturday). Doug, the proprietor of Just Brew It, is a great guy and was a huge help. He pulled all of the parts I needed to get my kegging operation underway, and even assembled it and tested it for leaks! I also picked up ingredients for a hoppy pale ale (which I brewed the next day). When I returned home, I put all of the equipment in the fridge, cleaned and reconditioned one of the kegs (a 5-gallon soda keg – called a Cornelius keg after the company that manufactures them), and then kegged a batch of Schwarzbier!

It still isn’t carbonated yet (should be ready tonight or tomorrow), but I’m quite excited nevertheless. I’m also excited to keg my next batch (the pale ale that I brewed Sunday). At that point I’ll be augmenting my current setup to push two kegs of homebrew from one CO2 tank. I plan to bring a 2-liter bottle of draft schwarzbier to the office to share the goods with my co-workers – as a “thank you” to all who chipped in to give me the CO2 setup.

Will seemed to feel much better all day Sunday. But then, in the middle of the night (Sunday night / Monday morning), he had a poop+puke explosion. Malin took him to the doctor Monday, and they recommended several things to help the sickness go away. But they didn’t prescribe anything, so we simply have to wait it out and make sure Willem is taking in plenty of fluids.

It has now been over 24 hours since the last vomiting episode, so hopefully his tummy has recovered. With luck, the diarrhea will disappear soon, too. That will definitely make Will a happier camper!