Still learning my lessons . . .

For most of this week we have had Ellen back with us, and it has been pretty great, except for the fact that the new has Finally worn off her for Wednesday , so now we are acting like 'sisters', which equals out to quite a bit of bickering , but not enough for me to not keep Ellen anymore.On the bright side, Ellen had never seen Harry Potter, we have since remedied that situation with a week long Potter marathon, and it looks like we have a convert on our hands !

Earlier this week I started a round of antibiotics for an infection , I had been doing great about taking them one pill four times a day , until today . Today we had dog grooming , and a trip to the pool and a bunch of other crap planned , and I simply forgot. After our throwing-in-the-towel-on-dinner-and-just-going-out-for-chineese this evening , it dawned on me that I had missed them today. In one of the least brilliant moments of my life , I decided in order to maintain the theraputic levels , I would just take two of the little buggers and be done with it . ( this is the downside of not having 'worked' in the last two years, all my nursing skills have gone totally rusty , and apparently I have gone mental as well)



So, after a few hours of feeling like total crap, with a pounding headache and ready to vomit my socks off at a moments notice,I decided that maybe I ought to Google that med and see just how much was too much ? ( I know, shame I didn't do that BEFORE  I took the meds, but hindsight is 20/20, and like I said , rusty/mental ) So according to the powers behind Google, it turns out 5000 mg is the lethal dose, and blessedly I only took 1000mg, so, sigh of relief . But then I see where nausea is one of the symptoms of overdose , so i'm all " well shit ! maybe I should call poison control? Just to be on the safe side ?"

So, after consulting the magical oracle known as Google, and acquiring their number , I place my call and talk to Diane, who assures me that I am not going to die, to eat something, take some tylenol for the headache , and try to chill. Thirty minutes, a tub of cottage cheese, 2 glasses of water and two tylenol later , I feel pretty groovy. I mean , my head still feels like I'm at a Grateful dead concert, but otherwise I'm fine.

This whole thing got me thinking though, about the multitude of time I have called poison control. The first time I was 19, and working an overnight and had a patient with dementia get a hold of a vat of calm-o-septine and start eating it like pudding. The good folks at Poison control were so nice, they even helped me fill out the incident report ! ( though i'll admit, getting it off her dentures and out of her mouth without being bitten was another story )

Then , when I was 22, after Duddits was born, I got on a first name basis with A fella named Roger, down at poison control , He was great ! He was there the night Duddits discovered how to open baby locks and spray bottles , and assured me that 409 with bleach was probably not lethal if he only licked the straw. Not that this knowledge stopped me from staying up all night watching him breathe and checking his vitals. About a month later, he got into some craft paint at his Auntie Armadillo's , and Roger and I got to chat again. There was another incident with some dish soap, and one with some shower cleaner. By the time he was 1 , I had taped the hotline number to every phone we were ever near, EVER . And had become quite good friends with Roger. Eventually , Duddits' curious streak ended (and not a moment too soon ) , and I had no further need to consult the great and powerful Roger , until 5 years later , After Wednesday was born, and she managed to get her hands on a pepcid tablet that had fallen on the floor.Roger was still there , and he STILL  remembered me ( imagine that !) and he assured me that the worst that would happen was probable diarreah and maybe some spit-up.

During all of this , never did I imagine that one day , I would end up calling them on MYSELF ! Goodness Quiser ! You are slipping in your old age ! Damn ! Pride does indeed go before the fall . Here I was feeling prideful of my abilities to hold it all together , and be so organized and responsible . Way to knock me back down to Earth Jesus ! Thanks alot !

Well , I guess I needed it . Feet of clay Quiser ! You have but feet of clay ! ( and more importantly, humble pie tastes better when its still warm , lol ! )

I don't suppose I ever will attain an age when I have finished learning my lessons.