The tights from hell
My doctor has suggested that I wear some special tights for my upcoming long flights to help prevent blood clots. It seemed like a good idea to me, as well, considering I have a friend who actually got a blood clot while flying from NYC to Basel last fall when she moved here (she was 30+ weeks pregnant at the time). In addition, I love wearing tights in the winter, especially if they have fun stripes or patterns on them.
I finally picked up my tights this morning at the Apotheke (pharmacy). Did I mention they're prescription tights? In typical Swiss fashion, picking up a pair of tights from the Apotheke is not as easy as it sounds. First, I was sent away from a couple different Apothekes a couple weeks ago because I was told I needed to come in first thing in the morning when my legs are the most swollen. Whatever. I sort of figured I could just keep going to different Apothekes until I eventually found one that would just sell me the damn tights. Finally, I gave up, after even my neighborhood Apotheke told me the same thing.
So Tuesday morning, I stopped in "first thing" at 8:15 AM. The woman still asked me how long I'd been up. I told her an hour, which was a lie, because I had been up 2 hours but what else was I supposed to do since they don't open until 8:00 AM? She took me in a little back room (who knew they had consultation rooms here at the Apotheke?) to take my measurements. This was serious business! I even had to take my pants off so she could take several different measurements of my legs. I had several colors to choose from (I chose black), and was told to come back on Saturday to pick them up (they had to be ordered).
Yesterday, the friend who got a blood clot last fall and ended up wearing these tights from hell every day until her baby was born, told me about how hard it is to put them on. She suggested I ask the woman at the Apotheke for help and advice. Unfortunately, the woman who helped me this morning had never worn them before (lucky her!) and had no tips to give me. Even if she did, she didn't speak English anyway so I doubt I could have understood her. She asked if I wanted to try them on, which I figured I should do, so we went back into the consultation room where I spent the next 10 minutes (seriously) fighting with these tights as I tried to wrestle them onto my legs. All she could do was watch, and try not to laugh. I guess the idea is that they're supposed to be tight enough to bind you in and do all sorts of good things for your circulation, but I'm telling you, they are the tights from hell!! Actually, they're not so bad once they're on, but I just hope I don't have a heart attack in the process of putting them on. Fortunately, I only have 2 long round-trip flights coming up, Wisconsin next week, and Thailand at the end of March (we're going to Phuket to lounge on the beach for a week while we still are childless!).
By the way, did I mention that these tights cost 140 CHF? That's about $100 USD. Thankfully insurance will cover them.
I finally picked up my tights this morning at the Apotheke (pharmacy). Did I mention they're prescription tights? In typical Swiss fashion, picking up a pair of tights from the Apotheke is not as easy as it sounds. First, I was sent away from a couple different Apothekes a couple weeks ago because I was told I needed to come in first thing in the morning when my legs are the most swollen. Whatever. I sort of figured I could just keep going to different Apothekes until I eventually found one that would just sell me the damn tights. Finally, I gave up, after even my neighborhood Apotheke told me the same thing.
So Tuesday morning, I stopped in "first thing" at 8:15 AM. The woman still asked me how long I'd been up. I told her an hour, which was a lie, because I had been up 2 hours but what else was I supposed to do since they don't open until 8:00 AM? She took me in a little back room (who knew they had consultation rooms here at the Apotheke?) to take my measurements. This was serious business! I even had to take my pants off so she could take several different measurements of my legs. I had several colors to choose from (I chose black), and was told to come back on Saturday to pick them up (they had to be ordered).
Yesterday, the friend who got a blood clot last fall and ended up wearing these tights from hell every day until her baby was born, told me about how hard it is to put them on. She suggested I ask the woman at the Apotheke for help and advice. Unfortunately, the woman who helped me this morning had never worn them before (lucky her!) and had no tips to give me. Even if she did, she didn't speak English anyway so I doubt I could have understood her. She asked if I wanted to try them on, which I figured I should do, so we went back into the consultation room where I spent the next 10 minutes (seriously) fighting with these tights as I tried to wrestle them onto my legs. All she could do was watch, and try not to laugh. I guess the idea is that they're supposed to be tight enough to bind you in and do all sorts of good things for your circulation, but I'm telling you, they are the tights from hell!! Actually, they're not so bad once they're on, but I just hope I don't have a heart attack in the process of putting them on. Fortunately, I only have 2 long round-trip flights coming up, Wisconsin next week, and Thailand at the end of March (we're going to Phuket to lounge on the beach for a week while we still are childless!).
By the way, did I mention that these tights cost 140 CHF? That's about $100 USD. Thankfully insurance will cover them.
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