So, I’ve been dealing with food poisoning since yesterday, and tonight it hit me all over again — worse than before. I didn’t understand why at first, but now I do, and it explains everything.

Yesterday, I cooked in a pot that turned out to be way more contaminated than I realized. It had old mac and cheese stuck deep in the crevices, and underneath that there was decomposing food that had attracted fruit flies and maggots. There was white and black mold layered on top of it. I tried to clean it, I boiled water twice, scrubbed it, did everything I could with the energy I had, but some of the residue must have stayed trapped in the seams. I used that same pot again today because it’s the only one I have, and I just wanted to eat something warm and familiar. I made mac and cheese again, thinking it was fine. But my body reacted almost immediately. The nausea started building, then the stomach cramps hit hard, and it all escalated fast. Tonight, the nausea got so bad that my body started dry heaving before anything even came up. Then I ended up vomiting. It was intense and exhausting, and my whole body is still shaky from it. I’m not trying to be dramatic, this is just what happened. I’m okay, just worn out and trying to recover. I’m not disappearing or ignoring anyone; my body is just fighting off something rough right now. I’ll be back when things settle down a bit.

So the conclusion is simple: I got sick again because the pot wasn’t as clean as I thought, and my body reacted hard. I threw up tonight and I’m exhausted, but I’m okay and taking time to recover.

Thanks for being patient with me.