Red and Salty!

I think I'm finally getting over the worst of whatever it is I have. If there was a place to be congested in my body, I was -- sinuses, chest, even my eyes.

My sinuses decided that they couldn't take the pressure anymore (ha!) and let my eyes in on the fun. I woke up from a nap late on Saturday with my eyelashes glued together. Talk about a freak-out, man!

Once I finally worked it all of it off and could see again, I was greeted by a ghastly reflection! Oh yeah, I just got off my month long bender...uh huh! Looked like someone had taken a red Paper Mate flair and scribbled every centimeter of white on my eyeballs.

I quickly got on the net and Dr. Google told me that I might possibly have conjunctivitis or pink eye and that I needed to see my physician soon. Except that it was evening-ish on Saturday and I really didn't want to substitute going to urgent care. I rememberd seeing a phone number for a 24-hour nurse line listed on my health insurance card and hoped that it was still in operation.

A patient and lovely nurse named Gail determined through a series of questions, that waiting to see what my eyes did or didn't do for the next 24 hours would be the best bet. She was leaning more toward my body going for broke in the All-Area-Congestion-Trials than me having pink eye because I failed to have a couple of key symptoms (itching and burning sensations as well as swollen and irritated eyelids).

Still, because of the highly contagious nature of conjunctivitis, she strongly suggested that I throw away my eye makeup and wash or disinfect my hands every 5 minutes. While I didn't especially enjoy dumping $30 worth of fairly new cosmetics in the trash, I understood the point.

Besides the congestion, my throat has been non-stop sore for a week. Gail also said that longer-lasting sore throats can go hand in hand with a sinus infection and that if I was using nasal sprays to clear my sinuses, chances were that I was making my throat more irritated as the solution could be running from my nasal passages down the back of my throat. Needless to say, I smacked my hand to my head upon hearing that.

Stooopid, stewped, STUPID!!!

Soooo, after hanging up with her, I dragged myself into the kitchen to dig out the neti pot that we just had to have but gave up on using because we didn't like drowning in salt water if it wasn't happening in the Pacific ocean! I re-read the instructions and made up a batch of water and you know what? We were feeling so very much better and we could breathe!

Who are "we" you ask? Just me and stupid!

p.s. As of 10 a.m. my eyes are still pinkish, but not blood-shot and they have not itched or produced any more eye-glue. My throat is still sore-ish, but the pain is tolerable.