I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old I got pneumonia. It seemed like every winter I was always sick with tonsillitis, but it felt different that time, I could tell I was really sick. But I was a middle child and not one to be pushy to get attention, there were 3 older children and a toddler for mom to keep track of. So I think it just took my mom a while to notice just how sick I really was! They rushed me to the doctor and I was immediately admitted to the hospital.
When I say "rushed" I mean we drove 25 miles to the next closest town where the doctor and hospital was. Of course mom felt really bad that she let me get so sick and she made sure I was OK, but she eventually had to go back home to take care of the rest of the family. This was the first time ever I was left all alone. I felt so abandoned, at least when my parents left me before I had a baby sitter or my older sister around. But this time I felt so alone! The hospital bed had a button to call the nurse and I'm sure I wore her out calling her so often to ask when my mom was coming back.
After what seemed like an eternity mom finally came back to the hospital and stayed the night with me. I've thought a lot about how alone I felt. As an adult I realized that just the driving time was an hour. Then at home mom had to make dinner or go get a neighbor to help get the rest of my siblings fed and into bed. Then to get an overnight bag and somethings for me; books, coloring books and my favorite stuffed animal, my Jimmy Bear.
Maybe that was one of my first steps into adulthood. I think of mom a lot more now. March will be 4 years since she passed away. I liked how my life would immediately feel better when I knew mom was coming back and would be there for me when I was a kid.
So, please share your stories too. If you want to take the topic and write about this on your blog, let me know. I like hearing other people's stories.
9 comments:
let's see...tonsils out at age 6, wisdom teeth out at age 16, female plumbing removed at age 35 (cancer).
3 hospitalizations in my 56.5 years. not too shabby, eh?
I don't remember a lot of illnesses as a child. I do remember a terrible phobia of going to the doctor and have been deathly afraid of needles my whole life.
Since I had thyroid cancer, I had to go to the Endocrinologist every other week for about 6 months and this assisted in my phobia of needles [but I didn't get over them entirely].
I do a good job of "looking the other way" when the nurse does her duty for the blood work. I guess it is the price to pay for trying to be a good boy.
I remember having chickenpox at the same age, 8 or 9. I woke up one day with a small 'blister' right on my eyelid not allowing my eye to open. I freaked out so much! I thought I was getting blind or something...
Thankfully I was young and I passed it quite harmlessly...
I was sick since I was born but I don't really remember how I was taken care of. I just remember I was sick heavily in grade 3 and 5. I had to leave school a very long time. Just that!
I'm gonna write something about this topic on my blog. Thanks, Jim!
When I was 6 I had my tonsils out. I can still taste the blood nearly 40 years later.
I remember a HUGE overbearing nurse forcing me to eat Jello, jamming the spoon into my mouth and nearly knocking a tooth out. I gagged and vomited all over, but that didn't stop her from shoving more down my throat. It took me over 30 years before I could eat Jello again. I should have sued the hospital for battery and named her personally as a defendant, but what's a six-year-old to do?
I hope that F'ing nurse burns in hell for a long while, then gets reincarnated, lives a terrible life, dies a horrible painful death, and goes back to hell a second time! No I'm not bitter :-)
The best thing about it was that pre-surgery I had one or two ear infections per month for my whole life. After surgery I did not have another ear infection. Not even one.
I had the usual childhood illnesses but survived them. However, I also had a disastrous introduction to Jello at the hospital like Cubby and to this day I can't eat the damn stuff. Just seeing Jello makes me gag.
At the age of 5, I contracted Measles AND Mumps at the same time. I was a very sick boy. I was not a pretty site all swollen and covered with lesions. I still remember standing in the bathroom naked with my very worried parents trying to lower my temperature with an alcohol bath. Obviously it worked, because I'm here to write about it! LOL Still I remember the look of absolute terror on my old man's face, who NEVER showed emotion - that's something that's indelibly etched in my memory.
At the age of ten I had my tonsils and adnoids taken out. At sixteen my appendix was removed.
Between those two events I broke my left leg slipping on a pile of dog shit running down a hill. And then, I broke my tail bone during a figure skating contest!
Sun Stroke... i had a fever of 104 and the doctor made a house call. Apparently I was hallucinating too. Ahhh fun times.
the chicken pox in Junior high school was a hell I would not wish on my worse enemy.
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