feeling like myself again

On Saturday night, a large group (25+) of us got together to celebrate Barbara’s birthday at a nice restaurant in Ocean Beach. It was a fun gathering and I was looking forward to a yummy dinner. Han had a late session so wasn’t there for dinner but he joined us later. I had a glass of red wine, some bread and chatted with friends sitting around me.

I ordered the Seafood Pasta which was described as “Angelhair tossed with a blend of fresh seafood in garlic oil, feta cheese and basil.” Yum, right? When it arrived, it was soupier than I imagined. The garlic oil was more like a broth rather than a drizzle. But still, fine. The seafood involved was salmon, ahi, mahi, and I think scallops though I’m not sure about the 4th kind of fish. I ate most of it (not all the broth) and had 3 glasses of wine total over the course of about 2 1/2 hours.

The party then moved to another fine OB establishment, Tony’s. OB is a great little beach town known for its relaxed vibe and citizens. Most everything is along the main drag so we walked from the restaurant to the bar. I was a little buzzed from the wine but not too loopy. However, when we walked into Tony’s, I suddenly wasn’t feeling too good. I went to the restroom and re-joined the party but things weren’t right. My lower lip started to swell and my face got flushed. I returned to the bathroom. Thankfully it wasn’t too crowded that night. Sure enough, there was some sort of bump on the inside of my lip and it was ballooning. It was hard to talk and felt like someone had punched me in the face. And my stomach was none too happy. I just felt wrong. I couldn’t enjoy myself but I was not quite ready to drive home. I managed a little bit more time with the group, putting ice on my lip and making another trip to the bathroom. Finally, I knew I just had to leave. I told Han to stay and hang out since he’d missed the dinner and besides, I don’t know what he could have done for me. I gave Barbara my love and walked with Marcia & Becky to our cars (they were leaving, too).

I cried all the way home. I wasn’t in pain, but I knew that something was not right with me. I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch while watching SNL. When Han got home, he told me to go to the bedroom. I felt groggy and realized that I had failed to tell him that I thought I was sick because of something I ate. I remember saying that to Barbara when I left and I guess, thought he just knew. I figured I had some kind of allergic reaction to the pasta dish I had, and maybe combined with the wine, which I sometimes have allergies to, though I didn’t have the typical symptoms from that I usually experience. So he was a bit confused because he thought it was just my lip and didn’t get that I was sick to my stomach.

I slept ’til 1:30 pm the following afternoon. My lip no longer swollen, my tummy okay, but overall still kind of icky. More friends (Cathryn, Matt, Jonny) were over to watch football (so long, Chargers) and then have a recording session. Cathryn made lasagna for the group. We ate around 4pm and I swear that lasagna healed me. Around 7 pm, I finally felt like myself again. I started doing a few chores (laundry, emails) that I’d neglected. I stayed in my pajamas the whole day. It was definitely not what I’d had in mind for the weekend, but what are you going to do? I had to listen to my body and respect its need for me to rest so it could fight with whatever it was I had ingested that didn’t like me.

In other news, we are redecorating DK’s room. It was what she wanted for Christmas. We have everything now and tonight we start painting! I’ll be sure to take before & after pictures.