I hate drugs. Apart from my gratitude for morphine when my appendix ruptured 11 years ago, my reliance(if mostly futile) on Tylenol to help me get through migraines, the joke about the Percocet in the medicine cabinet(prescribed after my recent trips to the ER), and my occasional Valley of the Dolls references, I disdain the use of foreign substances to deal with pain or other maladies. I’ll woman up with icepacks or extra fluids.

Allergies are another story. I’m allergic to a constellation of medications and shellfish. Imagine my chagrin when the familiar swelling of my upper lip began. I didn’t eat any shellfish but I did have a Trader Joe’s frozen teriyaki bowl for lunch. Now I love Trader’s Joe but some of their food is processed along with shellfish. In any case, I had noticed a hive on my cheek in the afternoon and stuck two Benadryl pills in my pocket just in case. It took mere minutes for my lip to blow up like a boxer’s after a hook or jab. Hopeful didn’t even bat an eye as I popped a pink and white between bites of my chicken tostada(love the La Pinata chain here in the East Bay!). I knew it wouldn’t be long before the grogginess hit and I was a little worried as I drove home.

Today was a Benadryl day. Slept in a little too much, groggy all morning, moodier than I’ve been in weeks. Didn’t eat lunch till almost 5pm and by then I had two little hives on my left cheek and my bottom lip was swelling. So I’m at Back to School Night, feeling fuzzy, if not focused.