OP, I'm actually fine with your post. Aside from the fact that you write really well, as I was reading it, I was thinking of a slightly less traumatic episode I went through, something so embarrassing I have never spoken of it to anyone. I showed your post to a friend. He read it, got very quiet, looked at me and started to turn red. Then his own years-old story came tumbling out, and I fessed up about my own experience.

It happens. My takeaway from all this is 1) I had no idea what norovirus was actually like and 2) this is a reminder to me to take at least a minimal change of clothing in my carry-on just in case.