Egyptian Death Flu

Well, it's that time of the year. Mrs. Smoot has the Egyptian Death Flu (EDF). At least I assume that's what it must be called.

She woke up around 3:00 yesterday morning, and was feeling less than 100% healthy (that's the politically correct way of saying she was repeatedly barfing her guts out). For the rest of the day she was permanently affixed to the couch, and all I could see of her was the top of her head sticking out of a gigantic mound of blankets, surrounded by mountains of Kleenex. Every once in a while she'd speak up loudly enough to remind me that she thinks she's dying.

It probably doesn't help that we have been watching House marathons on DVD lately. If you're not familiar with the TV show, Dr. House is the leader of a team of diagnosticians. He's sarcastic and rude, but he almost always figures out what is wrong with people who have unusual ailments.

Since we've been watching this show for hours on end most nights, we can't help but try to diagnose what Mrs. Smoot might be experiencing. I don't have the right equipment (as far as I know) to carry out a lumbar puncture or an MRI like they do on the show, so we're stuck with basic symptoms for the basis of our diagnosis.

Could she have an infarction? Huntington's disease? Pulmonary fibrosis? Guillain-Barre syndrome? Sarcoidosis? Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia? So far my best guess is that it's either the Egyptian Death Flu, or Munchausen syndrome.