Thursday Thirteen

13 things NORMA will tell you about this Thursday
I've been reading scary news stories about new infectious diseases the antibiotics can't fight anymore. I wondered if I had 13 illnesses and injuries I could recall--and it was a reminder of how things have changed since I was a kid. Here are 13 diseases/conditions I've had in my life time, most before antibiotics and vaccines.

The first seven items on the list didn't require a trip to the doctor in the 1940s and 1950s, because in those days, the doctor came to our house. With four little children, Mom certainly considered that a blessing. Also, "well-baby" check-ups hadn't been invented yet (no one had health insurance), and mothers weighed their babies at home. Medical care was pay-as-you-go except for catastrophic illnesses--and my dad bought polio insurance a few weeks before my sister came down with it.

1. Tonsillitis. Before the age of 5 when my tonsils were removed, I was constantly sick with infected tonsils, burning up with fever with painful sore throats. I was miserable. You don't hear a lot about this today, but surgery sure did the trick for me and it was a new lease on life and probably made life a lot easier for my mother.

2. Whooping cough. This is called pertussis today and children receive vaccinations for it with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. It is a bacterial disease, and if one child got it, usually everyone did. It is more dangerous for girls than for boys. Although children used to die from this, I don't recall being aware of its seriousness. Still, once you've heard that cough, it is hard to forget it--like coughing through a tuba.

3. Chicken pox. Although it could have serious side effects, this disease was usually just allowed to run its course through the family. Kids just stayed home until the scabs fell off. Even if you've had chicken pox, the virus can stay in your body and reappear as shingles and is extremely painful.

4. Mumps. I remember having this in kindergarten. Painful ear ache. By the time my children came along, there was the MMR vaccine.

5. Measles. It wasn't unusual to get this more than once. Probably 90% of people my age had this; now because of MMR immunization, almost no one gets measles.Ruebella is the serious form especially for pregnant women.

6. Scarlet fever. Right after third grade let out in May, I got this. I became sick at a friend's house and her mother called my Mom to come and get me. What a way to start summer vacation! This is a strep infection.

7. Pneumonia. I think this was 7th grade, and antibiotics weren't common, but house calls still were because I remember opening an eye and seeing the doctor in my bedroom.

8. Asian Flu. Freshman in college. This was a pandemic starting in China, killing about 2 million, and although there was a vaccine, I didn't seem to know about it. There wasn't much they could do since most of the campus had it, so we just stayed in our dorm rooms and sipped 7-Up. It disappeared and then evolved into the Hong Kong flu in 1968.

9. Infectious mononucleosis. Sophomore in college. Because it is communicable (known as the kissing disease since so many teens get it), I was put in the student hospital for a week. This is very common and most people have had a mild case by the time they reach adulthood, but sometimes you get really sick.

10. Appendicitis. I was about 33 years old, and they weren't really sure what I had until they got in there and looked. I healed pretty fast, but it took months for my son to get over it--I think he was in first grade and he would run after the car sobbing when I dropped him off at school.

11. Aches and pains. My horse fell on me when I was 12 years old starting a long history of back trouble, but for real pain you need a pulled neck muscle. Sounds silly but one day I turned around in the car to back out of our very long drive-way and pulled something. I discovered that every part of your body seems to be connected to your neck, even your fingernails. Worse than any back trouble I'd ever experienced.

12. Atrial fibrillation. Although this wasn't diagnosed until 1996, I was apparently born with an extra circuit in my heart, which caused the electrical charges to misfire with rapid and irregular heart beats. Because I'd always had it, I didn't know anything was wrong (I thought the room went black for everyone from time to time when standing up or walking up stairs quickly) and it never happened during a medical exam. It could have killed me or caused a serious stroke. It was ablated in 2002 and now seems to be OK even without meds.

13. Rotator cuff. When I was in rehab for this in 2000 I got to meet a lot of huge athletes and dainty dancers, but the best I can figure (I'm not athletic at all) is it was years and years of lifting heavy journals in the library and then smacking my weakened shoulder on the side mirror of a car.

Readers and thirteeners who have stopped by: 1. Joan, 2. Carol, 3. Eric, 4. Elle, 5. Tanya, 6. Denise, 7. Jane, 8. Melli, 9. Frog Legs, 10. Better Safe, 11. Lingerie Lady, 12. Lazy Daisy, 13. Nancy, 14. Heather,, 15. Courtney, 16. Ann, 17. D. Challener Roe, 18. Wystful1, 19. Lindsey, 20. Chickadee, 21. Yellow Rose, 22. Reverberate58, 23. Ocean Lady, 24. Suz, 25. Tunia

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