I didn’t pack painkillers for my vacation to Hawaii..
So, I didn’t pack any painkillers for my vacation to Hawaii.
I’m either very brave, or very stupid.
But, this is the second trip in a row where I haven’t packed painkillers.
The first trip was back in early May, when I flew down to Los Angeles with teachers, the principal, and the district superintendent from my son’s school/school district to accept the California Distinguished Schools’ Award.
It was only a three-day trip, but I made it through all three days without painkillers. Traveling. Waiting around in the airport. An overcrowded airplane. Unseasonably hot weather conditions. Long speeches.
It was only a three-day trip, but I made it through all three days without painkillers. Traveling. Waiting around in the airport. An overcrowded airplane. Unseasonably hot weather conditions. Long speeches.
And, under the category of “too much information,” I ended up getting my period right in the middle of the trip... I hadn’t been expecting my period. It’s been coming at whacky times, which is probably a sign I am entering the golden era of “peri-menopause.” Yup, my body is preparing for the “change of life.” Since I hadn’t been expecting “Aunt Flow,” I hadn’t packed any of the appropriate supplies. I’d wanted to pack light, so I just brought the bare essentials in my carry-on suitcase. And, the two gals I was rooming with were both post-menopausal, so they didn’t have any extra supplies I could borrow. Well, you wouldn’t “borrow” something like that. It’s just an expression. “Bum off of them,” would probably be more appropriate.
I thought the front desk might have something, since most hotels carry extra toiletries. Forget your toothbrush? Your razor? Usually the front desk can set you up with these items. Yeah, well, not at this hotel. Not a spare tampon or pad in sight.
So, I ended up walking down the street, (a SCARY street,) at 11 PM to find the nearest 7-11. (The lady at the front desk assured me there was a 7-11 just a block away. I timed it so that I could talk to the lady behind the front desk at the hotel, and not the man. It was just too embarassing to try to bum a tampon off a guy.)
I don’t know the name of this particular street in Anaheim, but it wasn’t one that I felt safe walking down alone late at night. But, my roommates were already in their jammies, on the verge of sleep, and they’d thought I was just going downstairs to get the “supplies” I needed. I didn’t want to go back upstairs, make them both get fully dressed, and drag them with me to 7-11. I figured I’d worked in New York City, taken classes at night in southern Manhatten, and always found my way back to the train station without getting mugged, so I could handle this one block walk.
And, I did. I just assumed my: “Don’t you f--- with me walk.” (Please excuse my French.) It was a posture I adopted when I was working in New York. If you look like an easy mark, then you are. If you look like mugging you will be wayyyy too much trouble, then they will pick on somebody else. I made it to the 7-11 without incident.
While the block had been poorly lit with few people around, the 7-11 was the polar opposite. I have never seen so many people jammed into a convenience store in my life.
“Excuse me,” I said, politely trying to jam my way through the door, and into the store.
I tried to peer through the mass of humanity, trying to figure out where the womanly supplies might be kept in this store.
The line just to pay snaked all the way back the refrigerated foods aisles, past the beer and condoms, and all the way into the cheesy souvenir t-shirts aisle at the back of the store. I estimated there were between 40 and 50 people waiting on line to pay.
I found what I was looking for, and planted myself at the back of that massive line, right by the cheesy t-shirts, cold beer, and colorful assortments of condoms. The two cashiers were very efficient, so it only took about 20 minutes for the line to work its way forward. I just amused myself by playing: “Guess what that person is buying at almost midnight on Saturday night?”
I was tampon lady, so what were they? It helped pass the time.
Normally, I get a migraine when my period comes, but somehow my body decided to skip the migraine period this particular month. No headache. I felt fine for the whole three days I was there.
I had a great trip. I enjoyed the company of the two ladies who were my roommates, and we stayed up each night until midnight just chatting. It was just fun.
So, now, I was getting ready for our two-week Hawaii trip. Do I dare not bring painkillers for such a long period of time? Two weeks? Half a month?
In the end, I decided part of being free of dependence on painkillers was mental. Well, maybe that’s not the right word, especially since at some point or another every one of us who has fibromyalgia has been accused of being a hypochondriac. There is nothing not real about this disease, the pain it creates, and horrific devastation it wreaks on our previously pleasant ad orderly lives.
No, I guess a better word for my decision to decide to stop taking painkillers, and not pack them for my last two trips away from home, would be faith.
I’ve been on the Guai Protocol now for four years. And, I also joined the fibromyalgiarecovery.com group four months ago, and began combining Guai + Iodoral, as some others have done. (Iodoral is a supplement containing Iodine and Potassium. It is also called “Lugol’s Solution,” when taken in its liquid form. I plan on devoting a page on my site to my experiences with Iodoral, as I’ve been taking a great deal of notes over the past four months. Thank you to Robert, from the fibromyalgiarecovery group, who reads my blog, for telling me about Iodoral.)
I’ve reached a point now where I simply feel well enough that I can leave the house without a pocket of pain pills in my pocket.
This is a huge personal victory.
It used to be if I forgot my Vicodin, or Ultram, (or both), I would turn around and go back home and get them. I needed the mental assurance that if I was slammed with pain while away from home that I’d have something to “take the edge off.”
Now, I can work through the pain with taking a hot shower and stretching, having my husband crack my back, (any chiropractors out there, pretend I did not just say that), or using hot rice packs, or ice packs.
But, I don’t need to pop pills.
For this trip, I packed my migraine preventative, because that’s a medication that has to be taken daily. But, I am hopeful that perhaps but this time next year that medication will no longer be in my suitcase. I packed my Guaifenesin, because both my son and I take Guai, (and we’re both on the same dose.) I packed Iodoral, (I take 12.5 mg x 4. I give my son 12.5 mg x 1.) And, a few other vitamins that I take just myself, like Magnesium. For my son, I packed children’s Tylenol, since he is still getting migraines.
But, it was so nice to have no opiates making the trip to Hawaii with us. The strongest painkiller in our suitcase was children’s Tylenol.
And, we are having a great family vacation.
Here is a video I just completed of my son learning to surf in Hanalei Bay:
Good times in Hawaii
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
