As I watch my friends having children, I watch them as they handle each of their children's ailments. I remember the ailments I used to have as a kid too.
One of the things I remember vividly growing up was my inability to blow my nose. I remember all the times my mother was exasperated with me for complaining that I couldn't. She would just get upset with me as she thought that I was just whining because I didn't want to do something disgusting. She didn't realize that I simply couldn't. I would blow and blow and blow and I couldn't get anything to come out. I watch some of my friends with their children and I see that it is a common thing for them to not want to blow their nose. Man... I wish I could have.
This is also coupled with another memory. I remember going to check ups and having doctors tell my parents that they knew I had big tonsils and that I would grow into them.
These finally came to a head in my Freshman year of college. I was feeling as though I was having breathing problems as I couldn't breath except through my mouth so I finally convinced my mother to take me to an Ears, Nose and Throat specialist.
The time for the visit arrived and we went to the doctor. I was sitting on the table and my mother was sitting in the chair to the right of the table. The doctor came in, took a look in my nose and (I am 100% serious about this) said LOUDLY, "Oh my GOD! Have you seen these things?" He then made my mother look at the humungous adenoids (Nasal tonsils). He then asked, "How long have you been unable to blow your nose? Those are swollen."
19 years was the correct answer.
On subsequent visits, the doctor was sure to bring in students so that he could show them how much of a freak show muh face was.
After surgery that removed my tonsils, adenoids and 1/3 of the swollen lining in my nose, I was finally breathing easier.
The story then gets funny.
I grew up with a dog and a couple of cats. I never had any allergic reactions to them. The reason was simple. I couldn't. My nasal passages were so swollen that muh body wasn't able to express its allergies to the animals. Without any of those things up there anymore, my body was free to begin to react to the allergies.
It took me about 6 years before I finally sucked it up and began getting allergy shots. I can now play again with dogs and enjoy the company of the most evil animal on the planet -- the cat.
What did I gather from all of this?
Simple... if your kids say they can't blow their nose... just don't ignore them..w atch them and see if it is real... a medical doctor screaming "OH MY GOD" about something in your body is and will never be a good thing.
2 comments:
But were they so enlarged that you made it into a medical textbook? Because that's the true mark of being an "OH MY GOD!" patient, like Brendan (Jenny-from-Africa's husband).
Also, I was startled to see that you, a person who's incredibly self-sufficient, didn't make your own appointment with the doctor by the time you hit college.
-- yh
It's all about the medical insurance baby... .all about that.
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