Wellness

[cherry]

Honestly, when I think of the stuff that kids took for illness ,it is a wonder we all ddin't kick the bucket

My dear sweet grandpa thought if you ate some Vicks ,if you had a cold ,it was a magic cure. It says right on the jar not for human consumption

I can recall mama putting that wretched stuff on my chest ,and then pinning a piece of outing flannel around my neck

I can remember how it felt ,when I pulled the flannel away from my skin..It still makes me feel half sick ,and I never used that on my kids. In fact ,Vicks has never crossed my doorway since I left home

[QueenDanceALot]

Without going into my own childhood experiences, I just wanted to say that I understand wanting to know.  Of course, no one here can help you with that.  If you want to work to resolve your questions I think it would be most prudent to seek the help of an educated therapist or counselor.

In the end, for your own peace and ability to move forward, you will need to let go of the hurt and confusion, and accept that none of it was your fault or your doing.

Best to you.

[LilacTree]

I had a difficult time with puberty when I was 14.  I was getting a lot of sore throats and had painful times of the month.  It was not a lack of caring by my parents, but rather an ignorance of what the sore throats could lead to that one of these sore throats was strep which led to rheumatic fever, scarlet fever, and mono all at the same time.  I became very ill and was put into a hospital for a long time, missing a whole year of school.

I was never robust as a child after that, but I did survive and had a normal life as I grew older, e.g., four babies in four and a half years without a single problem in my twenties.

However, I have been told that episode in my childhood probably did contribute  to the health issues I have now that I might not have, had the strep been caught and treated in time.

I’ve never even thought to blame my parents for that.  Those were different times.

[twinkies]

 I had the same problem but mine was not diagnosed until I was in my sixties . When my daughter had this problem I took her to several doctors until a cardiologist diagnosed her with Wlolf parkinson white syndrome at the age of 6. It is soetomes genetic as in my case.My other daughter siuffered from headaches buthers seemed to be allergy oriented . When she was in a car accident as a teenager a neuologist found she had cysts in her sinuses.When she was young I gave her benedrl and aspirin for her headaches and it seemed to help her.Thats what she says works for her now and sher is 40 years old.

cathy from ma

[sfnative]

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@cherry wrote:

Honestly, when I think of the stuff that kids took for illness ,it is a wonder we all ddin't kick the bucket

My dear sweet grandpa thought if you ate some Vicks ,if you had a cold ,it was a magic cure. It says right on the jar not for human consumption

I can recall mama putting that wretched stuff on my chest ,and then pinning a piece of outing flannel around my neck

I can remember how it felt ,when I pulled the flannel away from my skin..It still makes me feel half sick ,and I never used that on my kids. In fact ,Vicks has never crossed my doorway since I left home

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@cherry 

No disrespect to your Grandpa, but I just had to chuckle at the mention of Vicks.

As Head, Bioskills Training Center (Surgical Training [Staff & Resident Physicians), I always had jars of Vicks on hand.  Prior to each training session, some weeks up to 22 training events, I'd open the jars and stick cotton top applicators into them.  As soon as the docs were gowned, gloved and masked up, I'd invited them over to the Vicks, as donated specimens can be an olfactory challenge at times.  Each doc would take a cotton tipped applicator (Q-tip on one end of slim wooden stick) with Vicks on it and rub it on his/her surgical mask, right in front of their nostrils.  Wah-Lah!

[cherry]

@sfnative  I wouldn't even get near anything that smells like vicks, so, I shudder to think how much worse the specimens smelled

The mention  of vicks makes me feel like hurling  I avoid eucalyptus's like the plague

[sfnative]

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@cherry wrote:

@sfnative  I wouldn't even get near anything that smells like vicks, so, I shudder to think how much worse the specimens smelled

The mention  of vicks makes me feel like hurling  I avoid eucalyptus's like the plague

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@cherry 

Honestly, what you spoke to isn't bad at all, unless we access the chest and abdominal cavities.

I can see where eycalyptus would drive you nuts.  We lived literally a stones throw from Sigmund Stern Grove in S.F and so were nearly surrounded by eucalyptus.  Both DH and DD so allergic to them.

[Carmie]

My mother suffered from migraines as did my oldest brother and I.  Today, my youngest granddaughter gets migraines too.

My granddaughter goes to the doctor, but my mother, my brother and I did not.  As a child, I used to get the most awful ear aches.  I would wake up in horrible pain.  My mother would fill a mason jar with hot water and wrap it in a towel for me to hold up against my ear.  If it was really bed, she would wake up my father who would blow cigar smoke into my ear.

My parents were loving and we were not hurting financially.  We went to the doctor for immunizations and cuts if we needed stitches, or like my brothers...broke a bone. One of my brothers and I went to the allergist twice a week for allergy  shots for many years. Two of us wore corrective shoes for years.

i don't think they were ever aware that a doctor could help with migraines or ear aches.

Note:  out of our family of seven, there are only three of us with normal hearing.  My mother was almost completely deaf, my oldest sister is deaf in one ear,  and youngest brother is severely hard of hearing as was my father.  I can't help but wonder if antibiotics for ear aches would have prevented any of this.

I guess things were different back then. I know my parents would have done anything possible to keep us safe and well.

I just chalk it up to lack of education.

[ECBG]

Without reading all of the responses,  I would imagine that your symptoms weren't seen as complex as they were.  They may have been thought of as natural occurrences with unusual reactions.

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@this is my nic wrote:

Please bear with me on this, you who read and comment are taking the place of a therapist.  I really don't want to visit a counselor, but would like to have some pissible answers to my question.  

I had severe migraines for most of my life;  they began in childhood and still continue, but with much less pain and less frequently.  

As a young child, I remember telling my mother that things looked "funny".  I told her it looked like everyone and everything were far away.  So, my childhood migraines were both ocular as well as abdominal.  In later years my mother told my own grown children that I was the "pukiest kid she'd ever seen".  At adolescence the horribly painful headaches hit along with vomiting.  I had nothing to help with the pain other than aspirin which came right up after I took it.  The headaches were excruciating and occurred regularly, usually right before my period, but at other times as well.   They were debilitating. 

Unfortunately, I was never seen by a doctor for these hellish headaches.  I don't understand why I wasn't taken to the doctor.  It wasn't because of cost as I was seen by a doctor when I had childhood diseases such as measles.  Obviously, they thought I just had what was referred to as "sick headaches", but without a doctor's diagnosis how did they know it wasn't a brain tumor?  

I would never allow any if my children to suffer needlessly.  They were taken to the doctor when they were ill.

No one can tell me just why I was not medically treated.  If you have any thoughts on the topic, please share. 

Thanks everyone! 

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[Daysdee]

I think years ago people didn't take their kids to the doctor very regularly.  I'm in late 70's and don't remember very many doctor visits in my childhood.  Also, don't remember my Dad going for appointments, lab work, physicals, etc.  I guess my Mom went a little as she had various illnesses.   I think that is just the way people lived then.  Not be make a bad comparison, but remember how people cared for their dogs?  No dogs went to a vet, had their teeth cleaned, etc.  Many were fed table scraps--not the specialty food my dog eats.  I think times were different.     My kids aways had regular check-ups, vaccinations, eye exams, etc.