Week 11 - Illness & Injury

This is Natalie watching the Legend of the Volcano Sisters (one of her fave Backyardigans episodes).

Week #11 – Illness & Injury. Describe your childhood illnesses or injuries. Who took care of you? Did you recuperate in your own bed, on the couch in front of the television, or somewhere else?

This prompt comes on a day when I am just getting home from a trip to the Pediatrician with my daughter who was diagnosed with Strep throat. Fortunately, her only symptom is a low grade fever and a little extra crankiness.
I am lucky that I was not a very sickly kid. I rarely got sick but when I did, it was real. I've never broken a bone or even sprained anything. I had some usual childhood illnesses - colds occasionally, flu and chicken pox. However, in high school I caught something a little less common: Pleurisy. Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura which is the membrane that surrounds and protects the lungs. I remember having a sharp pain in my chest/back for a week or more before I was diagnosed. It was a stabbing, knife-like pain and my family made fun of me about my "oh, the knife" pain. My mom finally took me to the doctor knowing that I was not usually one to be sick or have random pain. It's not anything that serious but it stands out in my memory because it wasn't your run of the mill illness.

I don't think I required much extra care but I'm sure my mom took good care of me like she always did. Even when I wasn't sick she made me breakfast every morning before school. We never stayed in our beds when sick but always made up our own "couch bed" and hung out there being waited on by my mom. When sick, this is the only time that we were permitted to have the cable channel changer moved from the top of the TV to next to us on the couch. Big excitement, that was!

Now I am off to snuggle with Natalie on the couch while she recovers with the help of her favorite TV shows. It's nice that TV controls are now wireless and there are On Demand cable programs.