March 12. The last time I wrote anything down. The X cyberattack had just happened, and I was deep in the online drama, tracking every update, not knowing that my own personal chaos was about to unfold.
🚀 From Work Wins to Life Hitting Hard
Work had been crazy as usual. I was leading a third KYC verification feature at my company—shifting from SourceID to QoreID. This wasn’t just plug-and-play. Docs had to be read. Services had to be written. Debugging had to be done.
After countless hours of work, the vNIN verification was finally working. A win!
Or so I thought.
Because just as I was gearing up to wrap things up on Friday, I heard:
"Oh, we might not be using QoreID anymore."
Wait, what??
After all that effort? All the debugging? The error handling? The testing? The mental gymnastics of making it all work?
Developers, you know that pain. When you invest your brain cells into something, only to be told: "Yeah, we’re switching directions."
But luckily, we stuck with QoreID, and I ended the week feeling accomplished.
I was ready for a restful weekend.
Only for life to humble me—quickly.
🌙 Friday Night – And Then It All Started
My uncle from overseas showed up out of nowhere. A great surprise! He’s one of my faves, so I rushed to my parents’ house to see him.
A good meal. Good company. Good vibes.
Then, at 1 AM, I heard coughing.
Not just coughing—gagging, struggling to breathe. I checked my watch—1:00 AM.
It was my mum.
I got up. She was in the bathroom, throwing up, over and over again.
I thought, Okay, maybe food poisoning?
Tried to let her rest. But the vomiting didn’t stop.
By 3 AM, she was still struggling.
At that point, I woke my dad. He tried to help. I tried to sleep. It didn’t work.
By 5 AM, I was still up.
By 6 AM, I forced myself to rest.
By 7 AM, I was up again.
And my mum? Still sick.
We tried home remedies. Called some doctors.
Still, nothing was working.
And then… my dad started throwing up too.
🤢 The Worst Weekend of My Life
I had a livestream scheduled for Saturday.
I had to cancel it.
How could I be online talking tech when my entire family was falling apart?
Mum: Still sick. Still throwing up.
Dad: Now vomiting and stooling.
Our visitor: Watching everything, confused as hell.
Then it hit me too.
That lightheaded, dizzy feeling.
That weird need to sit down.
Then suddenly—I ran outside and threw up everything in my stomach.
I hadn’t even slept properly. The headaches were setting in. My body was shutting down.
By Sunday, we were all out.
Nobody was eating.
Nobody could keep anything down.
We were just laying there. Weak. Silent.
I kept thinking:
"This is not normal."
"How did all of us fall sick at the same time?"
"What if this isn’t just food poisoning?"
By Monday, we gave up and went to the hospital.
📉 The World Moves On, Even When You Can’t
I texted work—"I can’t come in. My entire household is sick."
The response?
"Push the code from last week so someone else can continue."
That’s it. No "Hope you're okay."
No "Take care, we got this."
Just "Push your code."
And at that moment, I realized something:
People don’t really care.
They care about what they can get from you.
But you know what? Some people did care.
I got a DM on Twitter (X) from someone I hadn’t even spoken to in weeks:
"Hey Alex, it’s been a while. Hope you’re good. Can’t wait to hear our favorite space host again."
And that? That made me smile.
Because while the people I expected to check in didn’t,
The ones I didn’t expect? Did.
🧠 What This Week Taught Me
When you’re sick, you’re not thinking about money, deadlines, or anything else.
You just want to be okay.
I lost 12kg (26 lbs) in one week.
I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself.
All my gym gains? Gone.
I had to start wearing hoodies just to look normal.
But I’m recovering.
I’m eating again.
And I’m back.
🚀 What’s Next?
I’m streaming this weekend (fingers crossed).
I’ll be back hosting Twitter Spaces.
And I’ll never take my health for granted again.
Final Thought: Health Is Wealth. Period.
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I'm so glad my boss is okay now and his entire family glad I didn't lose you or your family ❤️ I'm happy you are back and better. Also happy I subscribed to your subtract. I totally agree to what Okoro Daniel said about work.
Hey, Alex.
I'm glad you and your family are finally getting better.
Reading through the paragraphs, I kept imagining things in my head. Thankfully, in the end, nothing worse happened. If you don't mind me asking; what was the result of the diagnoses? Was it really food poisoning or something else? If yes, who did it and why? (If the answers are too personal, you can skip them).
Meanwhile, work, like I'd always say, "is just work." A transaction entity that doesn't major on welfare but influxes. Everyone is after the check.
Expecting a cuddle from such a place is living a pipe dream. It may never come. Which in your case didn't.
I've missed your spaces too. I was gonna DM to know what's up, but invading people's DM isn't my thing. Plus, we weren't really mutuals. Jumping into your DM would be so awkward.
Either way, I wish you and your family quick recovery. And I can't wait to catch you up on the space again soon.
WELCOME BACK!
#StaySafe.
----
Sincerely,
Okoro Daniel O.