Blurry Eyed

We were in constant action on Friday and Saturday. On both days we spent the afternoon at the pool, playing in the water and cooling off. Robby was delighted to spend hours splashing and cannon balling into the water. As an added bonus, the pool water proved to be therapeutic in making my stings more comfortable. I love that multitasking falls so easily into place! After swimming we went to the hockey rink where Robby skated for at least an hour. Needless to say, I had one tuckered out little Koopa by the end of the day!

I wasn't surprised when Scott and Robby were both still sound asleep on Sunday morning. I tiptoed to the kitchen and quickly turned on my coffee pot. Waiting for my caffeine jolt, I had the feeling that something wasn't right. I didn't feel ill, but something felt out of sorts. I was hoping that come caffeine might help sort things out, so I filled my largest mug and turned on the news.

Sipping my coffee I began to self-diagnose my issue. The peripheral field of my right eye was blurry, and I was seeing halos and bright waves. I blinked hard a few times but it only temporarily fixed the problem. I assumed that I had gotten lotion in my eye, but washing my face did not alleviate the issue. By the time Scott rolled out of bed, I was concerned.

While I am by no means an eye doctor, I do know a fair bit about the anatomy of the eye. Much of my college program focused on eye diseases and ocular issues (I studied to be a teacher for the blind.) I am not a proponent of self-diagnosis, but I did have a hunch about the issue with my eye.

After reading several articles online, my suspicions were confirmed. The emergency room physician had prescribed several days of Prednisone following my encounter with the tracker jackers. One of the side effects of Prednisone is blurriness or halos, especially in the peripheral vision. I applied a warm compress to my eye and decided to delay taking the next dose until I talked with my doctor. I'm glad I didn't take the medication.

At 11:00 I received an unexpected phone call from my pharmacy. I was dumbfounded when the friendly automated voice informed me that "an error had been made to the labeling of my recent prescription. Please press 1 to speak with a pharmacist." Seriously?  Mislabeling a prescription didn't even warrant a personal phone call?

After pressing 1 and waiting for about a minute, the pharmacist finally picked up the receiver. A few clicks on the keyboard later and she informed me that the Prednisone was prescribed for one pill daily. My bottle reads "take three tablet(s) daily." No wonder I developed a reaction; I was taking 3x the prescribed amount!

I hung up the phone, livid that such a mistake occurred. I realize that the system isn't perfect, and while I am thankful that no permanent damage was done, this situation could have been avoided. I can't help but think that this oversight must be a relatively frequent occurrence for my now-previous pharmacy. After all, they had an automatic call set up for the occasion! From now on I am going to be more vigilant about making sure that I receive exactly what was prescribed by my doctor, and I am going to find a different pharmacy.