Just think back....

That's right. Take a deep breath, close your eyes...No, wait, don't close your eyes, or the entire point of this exercise will be a loss...Close your ears to the world around you and once more, become a child.....

Think back...
Think back to your biggest nemesis at the dinner table. No, not your sibling who stole the last dinner roll, but the one dish that caused the bottom to fall out of your stomach the moment you found out it was for dinner, the one dish you hated most. For me, cooked spinach...

Now, fast forward a bit to your independence, do you ever purchase or cook said item? No, not at all. Not out of disdain or disgust, but simply because you have made a subconscious choice to not ever see it at the store, it just never crosses your mind.

That was the world that I blissfully lived in. Even with my husband enjoying my most hated dish (or MHD) I could politely refuse to eat it and prepare an additional vegetable for my dinner.

Last night however, this most horrible memory came flooding back to haunt me, like school pictures from the 80's.

Some of you know how sick I have been over the last week or so and have been very kind and sympathetic. (Thanks!) However the ER doctor was far less than sympathetic, actually he was a complete ass, but that's for a different blog at a different time... Said doctor did however, prescribe me three medications with the hopes of allowing me to sleep for the first time in three days, without the blood vessel bursting, coughing fits that I had been experiencing. One of the medications is a cough syrup that contains Codeine, a narcotic. Dr. explained that it would not only calm the cough but also allow me to sleep a bit, not knock me out, but calm my nerves. This medication: CHERATUSSIN.

Last night I arrived home with a few groceries and my medication. Took the steroids, antibiotics, breathing treatment and cough syrup. What seemed like a meek medication, the liquid suspension proved the most vile. A strong menthol with a poor attempt at cherry flavoring, this stuff could peel the paint off of cars. Now I know what you're thinking, HALLS. NOT A CHANCE IN HELL! I hate HALLS with all of my being, but this stuff FAR surpasses the insanity of that tiny square.

Anyway~ Around 10:30 I was due for another dose before turning in for the night, or four hours...back to the poison...Just the thought of it ripped me through the very fabric of time to the dinner table and the sloppy pile of green on my plate. Growing colder by the second, and far nastier than it had originally been. Choking down one teaspoon full made me physically sick.

From here I can shorten the story a bit (I've already rambled on far too much), but the medication didn't work....not until paired once again with a breathing treatment from the nebulizer machine at about 12:30. Four hours of sleeping upright, (did I mention that I can't even lay down?) the coughing fits returned and I woke to pack Ricks lunch, re-dope (and subsequently become ill from the lovely 'Tussin)*side note, do not try to shove the medication spoon further back into your throat with the hopes of bypassing the taste buds on this one guys, the medication hitting your stomach in this fashion still causes severe retching, you just haven't given your stomach adequate warning.* I was able to partially delete the gagging flavors by chasing it with apple juice and a wonderful bowl of Simple Harvest Maple Brown Sugar with Pecan. (For all of you whose MHD was oatmeal as a child, try it. See if you can find a free sample online and give it a whirl. It comes in three flavors and it's not your mommas oatmeal! It's good!)

Next Blog: ER doctors that suck. (I've only met one).