"Amoxicillin's just not real enough"

Au contraire, Eminem, but Amoxicillin is a bit too real for this kid.

After finally getting meds for my month-long cold, I headed up into the mountains for a ski-filled weekend. We arrived Friday, played some Trivial Pursuit and hit the slopes on Saturday AM. We accidentally ended up on black diamond, but made it to the bottom unscathed! I even learned how to ski moguls correctly and not just use them like little mini ski jumps! I also finally figured out why celebrities are always skiing into trees - those suckers are right in the middle of the slope! Certainly different than east coast skiing.

Saturday night, however, I noticed I was scratching my tummy and found a nice little rash. I tried to think if I had been wearing new clothing or if anything was rubbing, but chocked it up to super dry skin, threw on some lotion and went to bed (at only 8:15, mind you, I was exhausted!)

By Sunday morning, it had become clear that this was not just dry skin and I did a text message consult with my Dr friend Caroline. Thankfully, earlier in the week Allison had mentioned she is allergic to Amoxicillin and can't take penicillin-based drugs so I had a feeling thats what it was. Dr. Caroline said that as long as I had no airway issues, that no longer taking the meds and then taking some Benadryl should help. I picked up some Benadryl on the way to the slopes and made sure the folks I was skiing with would catch me if I fell asleep on the ski lift!

We skied a half day, after which my friends said it was like I was high, since I was quiet and kind of mellow, eyes half open - but I skied nonetheless! Even rallied for some tubing that night - which was a blast!

This allergic reaction is pretty much the most miserable thing I've ever experienced, probably hand in hand with the great Mexico fiasco of 2008. I'm plowing through benadryls and using benadryl cream. I've been googling nonstop, trying to determine how long this will last. In theory, I'm nearly out of the woods and my fingers are crossed that I wake up in the morning thoroughly less red. It might just be a figment of my imagination, but my hands and arms appear to be returning to normal. Katie sent me her custom-made training plan to get my back up to six miles and I'm eager to start - but I'm supposed to avoid sweating! This has been a terrible month, health-wise, and I'm ready for it to be over!