Monday 14 February 2011

Tales from the Ski Slopes

Well, you know by now that we can't have a ski trip without some "incidents" and this wouldn't be any different even though it's only day three.

Journey was OK. It's only a 2-2.5 hour flight from Chicago to Denver and we didn't get upgraded (not that we often do when travelling as a fivesome.) However, we were in Economy Plus with its extra 5 inches of leg room, which we might have to take for our flights to England in the summer. (If you think I'm being a complete diva about this - I am, but I have my reasons.)  Anyway, I took the opportunity to test out the sleep possibilities by moving the seat back and trying to get comfy.

Who was I kidding? The seat went back about five inches too, so I was still effectively sitting bolt upright. I can barely sleep in my own bed never mind upright, and in Economy Plus they don't give you that little bag with ear plugs and an eye mask. An added discomfort for people with any kind of back problems is that you can't really vary your sitting position, so within about an hour, the base of my spine was positively stinging. I was seriously considering making everyone pick their feet up so that I could lie on the floor, but then I remembered that this was only a run-through.

All went well till this morning, when for some reason, I woke up with two swollen, stinging eyelids. Good job the Ball & Chain hadn't organised anything romantic for Valentine's Day (today) as I looked like the Incredible Hulk around the eyes. Took myself off to Walmart where the nice pharmacist advised taking an anti-histamine, which I duly did. About half an hour after taking two tablets (the instructions said 1-2) I couldn't feel my hands and feet. Well, I could sort of feel them but it was as if someone else was working them.  Obviously not an ideal state for skiing so I lay down and apparently slept for three hours! Woke up feeling back in reality although the eyelids seem to be immune to the Benadryl.

Can't for the life of me figure out what it might be though.

Sigh!

10 comments:

  1. Conjunctivitis perhaps? Benadryl won't do anything for that.

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  2. I love that in America, you end up going to Wal Mart instead of the local GP when you have a problem like this.....

    Hope it clears up soon. Could it be contact-lens related??

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  3. Hope you feel better!

    I found that using a small pillow as lumbar support during the flight helps a lot with my back aches when flying. (I also know a lot of people who use benadryl off-label as a sleeping pill when flying, but more numbness may not be what you'd be looking for).

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  4. You do get the bag with eye mask/ earplugs on trans Atlantic flights, so you should be fine for England trip. :)

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  5. I think Almost American could be right on the conjunct. diagnosis. Or......have you changed your make up or skin care? This happens to my mum quite often if she changes a product.
    Ps- always fly business long haul. Shove kids into economy (hard on Aidan mind you with him being so tall).

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  6. Oh God that's not a good start!

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  7. My local was a Walgreens in Lakeview and the pharmacist and I were almost on first name basis.
    Hope your eyes are back to sparkling normality. :-)

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  8. I think it was probably because I didn't bring my regular (sensitive) face cream and just lathered on the Vaseline in tensive stuff (since it's so dry and windy up here). The skin around my eyes didn't like it.

    And yes lulu's M - I heart my local pharmacist. They not only tell me the cheaper generics I can buy, they help me sort out insurance stuff and tell me when I'm being ripped off ($700 acne cream!)

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  9. I hated that about living in Chicago - having to always make sure that my job came with benefits. I kept my fingers crossed that my doctor was in the same plan. Very frustrating at times.

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