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Kaye Kelly |
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Well, here we are at the start of winter once again, and I’ve already had my fair share of ills (though not chills, thankfully) and several lots of antibiotics for the first time in over 25 years. On picking up the script for the second lot after the first antibiotic worked about as well as trying to acquire a tan in the Antarctic in a snowstorm with temps of 30 below, the pharmacist gave me dire warnings about not drinking so much as a teaspoonful of alcohol while taking them as they would make very sick indeed. And to make sure I didn’t imbibe any alcohol for at least 8 hours after taking the last pill. Had prior warning of my indulgences reached him, I wondered? Having had the fear of death instilled in me, for the week I was on medication, I religiously checked labels of anything about to enter my digestive system, denied myself the pleasure of trifle, and scorned my weekend treat of a glass (or two) of wine. At the end of the course, and after waiting 36 hours after the last pill, my tongue was hanging out for a wine. With shaking hands I poured a glass of my favourite tipple, a glass of bubbly, put it to my lips, slurped a mouthful, swilled it around, gargled Scotland the Brave - a talent I was known and envied for in younger days - and spat it out. Tasted horrible. Had my taste buds succumbed to the vagaries of age? Could the wine have suffered the same fate? Was God punishing me for some dreadful misdeed in my youth? Was I doomed to spend the rest of my life unwillingly spurning a tipple? After spending the following week in a funk of despair, I broke down and confessed my dilemma to a friend … who erupted into hysterics on hearing the name of the antibiotic I’d been prescribed as it’s sometimes prescribed for recovering alcoholics. Makes them sick as when they have a drink, apparently. I’m relieved to report that at last, two weeks after the last pill, I sloshed back a glass of bubbly and it was … wait for it … lovely! Until next time, here’s wishing you some fantastically happy moments in your life. Kaye |