Wednesday, June 06, 2007

In support of vigorous toweling

Something happened this morning that almost never does: Fifteen minutes before the alarm went off, I woke up on my own, feeling rested and alert. All righty, then, I thought, this is going to be a great day. I slipped on my houseshoes and kicked the morning routine into motion.

The first thing on each morning's list is to let the dogs outside. Only then can I go to the bathroom myself. I did that this morning, then washed my hands thoroughly and dried them, apparently not so thoroughly.

Next up was morning meds. I opened pill bottles and placed three little pills in my left hand, stepped up to the sink to get a small cup of water, slapped the pills into my mouth, swallowed and drank the water--and watched out of the corner of my eye as one pill, which had apparently stuck to my damp hand, fell into the sink and down the drain.

I tried peering down the drain with the flashlight but couldn't see anything other than drain sludge. There was no possible way to tell which pill was lost so I could just take a replacement. Of the three tablets, the blood pressure medication concerned me most. I know I'm not supposed to skip it, but doubling up on it isn't a good idea, either. Hmmm. What to do?

I considered my options while I brushed my teeth and finally decided to go on about my business and not worry about it. I figured if my ankles started to swell, or if everybody who came into the office ticked me off way more than usual, I'd know the blood pressure medicine was the lost pill. Fortunately, my day was quite nice.

In fact, I'd put the missing pill completely out of my mind until about half an hour ago. Following a quick supper from Taco Bell, the pill puzzle began to gradually solve itself. Now, thanks to a raging case of heartburn, I know it must have been the Prilosec that went down the drain.

It'll soon be time to go to bed. The bedtime routine calls for the nighttime meds and variations of the morning's health and hygiene activities. This time I plan to spend a little more time with the towel.

10 comments:

  1. does the medical community own us or what?

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  2. Do you take the heartburn pill everyday? I have bad heartburn and try to refrain from eating to solve the problem...really...I know it sounds stupid. but I hate taking pills everyday so I try to not eat..I am still fat!

    I think this might be a sign that the heartburn pill is a shortterm fixer and not an everydayer pill.

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  3. Yes, this is one of the little stumbling blocks in life, Velvet. Glad you figured it out and can get back to your preventive regimen.

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  4. Velvet, So sorry about your meds. You tell your story so well - you always make me chuckle.

    My mom is 83 and takes NO meds whatsoever. I firmly believe it is her avoidance of doctors and daily pill taking that has kept her so healthy. That and she loves to eat lots of veggies and works herself ragged in her garden!


    Take care Velvet! Holly

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  5. Velvet, you have a great way with stories! Glad you figured that out. I'd have worried myself sick for 48 hours about what I DIDN'T take! :-)

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  6. There's nothing like a renegade pill to take all the pleasure out of what was shaping up to be a good morning! That happens to me quite a bit, usually with vitamins which I take after I've done the supper dishes.

    My mom takes a lot of pills and usually drops at least one on the kitchen floor and calls me to come look for it. Isn't it amazing how often they go under the fridge or the stove?

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  7. I have no doubt there's an entire pharmacy down my drain and under my refrigerator. My challenge is falling on top of the ones that don't skitter away before a cat becomes too interested.

    A boring, but safe way to figure out which one you dropped: count the remaing pills left in the bottles.

    This works *if* you know when you started each bottle. My challenge here is counting a bottle and coming up with the same amount twice!

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  8. HA! Well, at least it wasn't the blood pressure one. I wonder if Prilosec could help my backed up sink? If it helps backed up stomaches and the acid reflux thing then I wonder if one dropped pill can help a backed up sink. It's a thought....perhaps one pharmaceutical company could put all the plumbers out of business and we'd never have to see their crack again.

    Austin

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  9. You tell your story so well! Isn't amazing the things that can happen to us during our normal routine? I always seem to forget I need to put my glasses on first thing in the morning and then I stumble around for the first 45 minutes or so wondering if the world is off today or is it just me!

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  10. we are glad it worked out to not be the blood pressure medicine!! isn't it nice how some days work out just fine even when you had one of those early morning things that could have set you off in the wrong direction, but you didn't let it do that to you, so we say bravo!

    wishing you a super week!

    peace and blessings

    keepers

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