Drowning in the Sink

I'm in the water all the time. I grew up swimming in lakes and in the pool. I used to swim competitively, and if I was going to drown, it was going to be during a swim practice.

I plan vacations around water activities, such as rafting, swimming, wave pools, beaches, etc. I know the danger of drowning, and try to be careful.

However, I never thought I would drown in my kitchen sink. Of all the ways to go.

When someone in the house LOVES spicy foods, the other person must always be on alert. Like, when Chris placed the hottest hot sauce known to man on a burger but couldn't remember which one, it was I that found the the extremely hot burger.

I took the smallest bit of burger I could, and quickly dunked my mouth in milk while shoving slices of bread into it, trying to squelch the burning sensation. After an hour I was able to finally recover from the fire on my tongue.

This hot sauce is so hot, Chris will kiss me after eating it and my lips burn.

He thinks he's funny.

I've learned to watch out for extra peppers or spices in food. I always check to make sure my half of dinner is not contaminated by hot sauce or extra peppers.

Exercising caution was for naught.

Oh the pain! The pain! It is worse than chlorine, shampoo, dust/dirt, or a scratch. I have never felt anything as bad as I did when habanero remnants got in my eye.

I washed my hands three times after cutting up habanero peppers last night for nachos. I was sitting on the couch, while Chris was in the kitchen cleaning up, when my eye itched. Not thinking of the peppers I had just cut, I rubbed my eye.

I went blind.

The burn felt like someone was sticking a hot poker into my left eye. In hopes of flushing it out, I squired eye drops into my left eye. It made it worse. So much worse, than my right eye began developing sympathy pains and began burning, as well.

I'm screaming.

Chris is trying to fix this, while keeping dinner from burning in the oven.

"What can I do?" He asked.

"I dunno, hold on," I told him while I searched the Internet for a solution to my burning eyes. Through the tears, and the slits my eyes had become I began reading.

Note to people making websites. I don't care how you got pepper in your eye, tell me how to get it out! Information first, your sad story, second.

Every website that offered help, did not. Instead, the sites were filled with personal stories of the pain I was in. Not once did the site offer help.

Finally, I was able to find something on the poison control website.

Flush eyes out with water. This is actually their advice, no matter what gets in your eye. From bleach, to ink, to paint. Flush it with water, then call 911.

Tired of waiting for me, Chris filled a cup with water and told me to look into the bottom of the glass.

I shove my head to the rim of the glass, but the burning was as intense as it was before. He gets me a bigger glass. I still can't get my eye into the water. I'm starting to panic now, with the idea I will never see again.

Giving up on cups, Chris grabbed a large mixing bowl filled it with water and I shoved my head in.

Water went up my nose, since the mixing bowl was not large enough for me to blow air through it, without causing bubbles to go over my head. I was drowning in my kitchen sink in an Ikea mixing bowl.

I hate the feeling of water up my nose. It's worse than falling on my tailbone, or whacking my "funny bone."

I came up sputtering, water dripping from my hair, nose, and ears. My eyes still burned. So, down I went for round two. Trying to get over the feeling of drowning, I focused on the bottom of the bowl.

After the second round of my head in the mixing bowl, I could open my eyes.

I gave each eye a little squirt with the eye drops, and let the burning sensation die down.

Plastic might be used next time I cut up habanero peppers, or I'll just let Chris do it.