Penelope's Stomach Virus

Okay, it was really my virus that she caught while nursing me when I was sick. She had never been this sick under my watch and boy was it an experience. The interesting part about it, and the reason I'm even writing about it, has to do with how her RAD impacted her ability to deal with being this sick, as well as how difficult it was to determine how sick she was.
It started Friday, about 3 days (incubation period) after I was at my sickest. My mom was over that morning so she was my witness. To preface her illness, I have to start by saying how Penelope has been doing better when her coping with stress/anxiety, her attempts to be grounded and in the real world, and trying to act her age. But she is still really struggling with it, just starting to do better. She was coping better at home then she was at school and her acting out by acting babyish was causing negative attention, which in turn was causing some of her classmates to pick on her but it was being dealt with. So when I got sick, she told me that I had caught it from her because she just got over the stomach flu. Obviously this wasn't true as I would know if she had been sick. Then during my illness, even though she had a healthy appetite and showed no symptoms, she claimed she had the stomach flu too. So, Friday morning when she woke up and complained of a slight stomach ache for 3 day in a row, I gave her some medication and moved on - to appease her. She ate her egg and slice of bacon for breakfast with no problem. Then without any notice I found her in the bathroom behind the closed door, throwing up. I helped her and told her to go back to bed, she wasn't going to school. She went to her room but was restless and didn't want to go back to bed. She was constantly finding excuses to leave her room. I started questioning her illness because of how she was acting, but also, after thinking about it I started to question whether she made herself throw up. She never closes the bathroom door unless she is up to something, but when I heard her throwing up I had to go through a closed door. After she went to the bathroom for the second time for no reason, I caught her sneaking around the corner of the wall listening to my mom and I talking. I called her out of her hiding place and said "You seem like you have something on your mind. Like you have something to say? What's going on?" She then went into this confession about how even though she told me that things were better at school with her classmates, she was getting bullied again. I asked her if her being bullied had anything to do with her being sick today. She said it did. We talked about the bullying and coping and I asked her if she wanted to go to school for the rest of the day. She said she didn't know. I said that if she was feeling better, she should go to school and if she wasn't she needed to be in bed the rest of the day so she can get well. One or the other. She stayed in her room and I found her playing on the floor and had to help her get into bed. Even though I do try to live by the rule of no second chances, I knew that she probably threw up a good portion of her morning medication and was having a hard time with focusing and her anxiety and was trying to be compassionate to that fact. After she settled in her bed, she was still struggling with not being bored. She complained of a stomach ache but didn't appear to be in pain. She also had a normal temperature. She got hungry around lunch time and I cut up a banana and gave her some crackers. About 30 minutes later she hacked allllll over her room. Down the side of her bed, on the floor next to her, all over the outside AND inside of her backpack, her shoes and the closes she dressed in for school that she left on the floor, and on the comforter of the bed next to her. I have to admit guiltily, I was pissed. I still wasn't sure I believe it or not how sick she was and I know she is an expert vomiter. And it seemed almost strategic. Is she acting out? Is she looking for sympathy? Did I make her mad and she is getting back at me? I'm always looking for the reason behind the action so much with Penelope, and question everything she does, that I still wasn't getting it, that she was actually sick. I bagged all dirty items and linens and mopped her floor. Fortunately, with her having two beds in her room, I was able to quickly move her to the other bed and change out the covers. She NOW had a fever and was feeling bad. She felt pretty bad for a few hours, progressively worse. She really started freaking out about it. She asked if she was going to die. Penelope can come across rather dramatic. I've learned that some of the time it is her way of getting attention, but actually much more rare than most people think. She honestly has these very irrational feelings and thoughts. I relate it to the fact that she never acquired those fundamental feelings of security that most people have. We may worry about certain things, but fundamentally know that everything will work itself out one way or the other. Penelope never had that. She just assumes the worst and worries about it and sometimes even comes to an acceptance of it. That's when she gives up. Just part of her daily struggles. Anyway, she really thought she was going to die. She cried and became an anxious mess. Fortunately, after throwing up again and having her final bout of diarrhea, she fell asleep and slept for several hours until she was much better. I was so thankful for that - beside the obvious reason that she got past the bad part and could start feeling better, I was also exhausted from my own illness and having spent the day cleaning up after her I wanted to scrub all my skin off. After she got sick the last time, which after skipping the bucket to head to the bathroom, didn't make it to the toilet and while throwing up, poo'd all over the wall and floor - I told her I'd give her a dollar if she makes it to the toilet just once. It was her last bout so it didn't matter at this point. I just feel for all parents out there that have kids who use vomit or poo as a means to act out so they deal with these things more than just through illness. UGH.
But I think the experience has helped Penelope see that once again, Mom has helped her through another difficult time. She actually calmed down and cope better than before her illness. We talked about her feelings and being sick. We also talked about her social issues and being honest about them so that she isn't dealing with it alone. I'm sure having that on her mind didn't help her feel better when she was sick either.