Worried sick

It is actually quite common for kids who have anxiety, or get easily stressed to literally worry themselves sick. They complain of headaches, stomach aches, and will actually throw up if they are distressed enough. So last night when Kate appeared as usual at my bedside just before 1am, I moved over and made room for her, expecting her to settle down and sleep the rest of the night. But she didn't. She had been teary when she arrived, which isn't unusual for her. But she didn't settle down, she kept whimpering and tossing around. I asked her a few times what was wrong, but she didn't know. And then after about half an hour of this, she sat up and projectile vomited across the bed on all of us. And then she turned and vomited all over the floor beside the bed. And all the way to the bathroom as I ran carrying her. Then of course, she stopped. Some time later, once the bed had been stripped and remade, the floor cleaned up, and Kate cleaned up, the three of us got back into bed again. When I whispered to my husband what he thought it might be, his first comment was that it was stress related, that she had worried so much about something that it had made her physically sick. And I found myself actually hoping that I had in fact poisoned us all with tainted food at dinner time, or that we were about to undergo round two of the stomach flu that everyone just had over Christmas. Because both of those seemed better options than Kate worrying herself sick.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the night listening for one of the other kids to get up, or for me or my husband to start puking, but no one did. So by morning I had to nix the possibility that it was food poisoning, darn. That leaves the flu. Kate didn't throw up again, but was restless all night (or maybe that was just me, waking her up every time she moved, thinking she was about to barf again). It's afternoon now, and at this point I am feeling pretty confident that it isn't just stress of some kind doing this to her, she seems to still genuinely feel crappy, phew. I know, sad that I am actually relieved that she is sick, but it's better that than have her worried sick, right? Now I just have to keep her from worrying that she is going to throw up again tonight...