I went to Egypt for 3 weeks over Xmas/New Year 1994-5 - and had a great time! Didn't get sick like you did, but I did get flu and missed the New Years party
This was when tourists were under attack, so we (me and 5 friends) were about the only tourists in the country at the time, althought there were a load dragged off a coach and shot during our stay.
Other than that it was great (although a few scary moments) we went to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel - driving through the Western Sahara was something else!! A word of warning, don't go on a nile cruise - a sure way to get sick - travel by land and hire a felucca for your Nile adventures. Cairo museum is excellent, Pyramids, Karnak temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's Temple, Aswan and Elephantine Island are great places to just kick back and relax, and the temples of Ramesses and Hathor at Abu Simbel are a must - not just the excellence of ancient remains, but also the 1964 UNESCO engineering feat in rescuing them from the rising Lake Nasser.
And, hehe, my life seems to be sorting itself out too
which is a bonus! Hectic though, but happy.