I have a husband and two toddlers, last January we had a horrible run with noro. It was my first experience with a true SV hitting our house since having children and it did not go well at all. I panicked and lost it, and did not regain my composure until several weeks later. I am still very traumatized by the whole chain of events and think about it daily, and now that we are nearing that time of year again my anxiety is on overdrive. I ak very superstitious about Christmas time because as a child I would get a SV like clock work every year at that time. I am probably the only kid in the world who dreaded Christmas. I still hold that superstition as an adult and sure enough, we contracted notorious last year at a new years party.

The worst memories for me are two things in particular : The first signs of outbreak were when I woke up one morning and found my husband looking green, laying on the couch. He immediately told me he had been v all night. I have never seen my husband sick in the 8 years we have been together with anything, not even a cold, so this sent me into overdrove. I went into our bathroom and there was still v beside the toilet, where he didn't quite make it and he was too sick to clean it up. That alone made me want to die, but I couldn't leave our kids to run away from home. I did not clean it up, I couldn't, I left it for him to clean as soon as he was feeling better. We have two bathrooms so I did not use that one anymore, and still make sure I go in there as little as possible because of the memory of what I saw when I opened the door. I have trouble sleeping when my husband is not in bed with me to this day, each time he gets up to pee or whatever I shoot up on bed and think he has left to v.

Then our two children caught it, one right after the other. My husband picks them up from daycare each evening and one day as soon as they walked in the door, my son v all over the foyer right in front of me. No warning. I ran out crying. The next day, the exact same thing happened to my daughter, right in the foyer as soon as she walked in the front door. Now to this day I get extremely anxious when I know they are on their way home, and call my husband to check in and make sure neither pf them are ill. I also do not greet them when they first come home anymore, scared that they might suddenly v like that again. I always make sure to be busy with something in the kitchen when I know they are walking in to avoid them until I feel that window has passed and I know they are ok. I hate that because I know they are looking for me and excited to see me when they get home, but I just can't do it.

How do you cope with stuff like this? I hate what my fear does to me.