The alternate title for this post is "Lock your medicine cabinet!"
My mother-in-law was a super-dedicated mom. She could be overbearing (sorry K!), but she was a good mom. When her kids were sick, she was all over it, taking care of everything--even when the kids were older. It seemed odd to me, but she was the stereo-typical "doctor mom" I remember hearing about in commercials (and in Kristie's post, The Local Farmacy).
Her brain surgery (when my wife and I were 19) left her unable to care for herself. So as much as she wanted to, she couldn't take care of her "kids" when they got sick. I put "kids" in quotes because my wife's sisters were 22, 21, and 17 at the time. Because she had done everything for them when they got sick, they didn't know how to take care of themselves--at all, to the point of not even knowing what to take for a headache.
When I noticed my GF suffering, I started advising her on what to take and when to see a doctor. Soon she was calling me for advice when any of her sisters got sick. I only dispensed over the counter products--antihistamines, decongestants, B vitamins, Advil, Tylenol, Vick's Magic Croup Salve (you may know it as VaPoRub). My co-workers used to give me odd looks when they'd hear me on the phone asking things like "when does it hurt," "what's her temperature," or "is it a productive cough".
I knew what to do because I had been self-medicating since I was 7 or 8. My mom suffered with a lot of health problems. If I was sick while she was, I could either wait for my older siblings to stop arguing over who would help me or I could do it myself. I'd paid attention to what my mom or grandma had given me when I was sick, so I knew what to do. It was much easier to drag a stool over to the counter, climb up, and get the Bufferin, Sudafed or Vick's Formula 44 myself--or wet a washcloth (cold water plus a little rubbing alcohol) to put on my forehead for a fever (never use rubbing alcohol that way!). I often did this in the middle of the night, when no one else in the house even knew I was up.
I was a responsible kid, so there was never a problem. But looking back as a parent, I can't help but think it's important to lock your medicine cabinet!!!
I see you and my mom attended the same "school of medicine." :-) At least you only dispensed over-the-counter meds!
ReplyDeleteThat's all I dispense, but I am more than willing to try (almost) whatever pill someone is willing to share. When we were 16, my wife gave me a pill that had been prescribed for her (I was sick, she wanted to help)--a rash broke out on my arms. I took that as a warning. That's why I'm only almost willing to take anything. I research medications pretty thoroughly before taking them, even the stuff my doctor prescribes.
DeleteI hate taking medications, maybe because my parents weren't so big on it either. Whenever I was sick it was always, "go drink some green tea" or "stand in a hot steamy shower for awhile". Vapor rub was definitely used often! Now, whenever my husband gets sick, I just tell him to go drink a lot of orange juice and pee out all the sickness, haha. :)
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Haha, my wife is big on OJ too. But she won't drink tea because she doesn't like it. I can't convince her that when she's sick it doesn't matter if she likes it or not. The sicker she is, the worse she is about taking care of herself--it might be a ploy to get me to take care of her. :)
DeleteHahaha I was a lot like that too because when I was a kid my doctor uncles and aunts (they're real doctors!) would just tell us to drink lots of fluids, juice, etc. I only discovered the wonders of OTC later in life when I was living by myself and all that. :P
DeleteOh man, I would love to have a doctor aunt or uncle!!!
Deletelol yeah advil helps with 80% of my problems. Mostly when I am hungover! and haha my dad is the same about school, he wanted me to go to med school then relized how much it cost
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for Advil! I don't mind listening to free advice. But if people want to criticize, they should offer to pay for the changes. :)
DeleteIs your wife's mom ok now, or has she already passed away? Must have been hard to see her so unable to care for herself after being THE caretaker for their entire lives.
ReplyDeleteKinda funny that you ended the post with lock your cabinets, because guess you're right, shouldn't let kids self medicate! Not just because of potential drug problems but also just safety! So why shouldn't you use rubbing alcohol for a fever? I think it's because it absorbs into skin, but clarify.
Growing up, my family weren't sick very often. Even now when I'm sick, I'm reluctant to take anything unless it's pretty serious or has been lingering around for a while. As a preggo, I stick to acetaminophen for headaches or other ailments and have been loving the neti pot to clear out the sinuses.
After several surgeries, the MIL was given 6 months to live (causing my wife and I to advance our wedding plans by several years). She has passed away now, but she beat the odds and lived much longer than expected.
DeleteI was only thinking about safety, but you raise a good point about potential drug problems. You never know. About the rubbing alcohol, along with the absorption, its fumes can be dangerous, especially to a feverish child.
I had undiagnosed allergies and ended up getting more than my share of respiratory infections as a result. Being physically active helped, but spring was always bad.
My whole family self-medicate too unless we want the MC (medical Cert) so as not to go to school or work. When I'm very sick I usually like to sleep in and I do not quite like to take the medicine except for those that indeed make me feel better. It really was for the MC.
ReplyDeleteI think we really should lock our medicine cupboard away from kids coz not every kid is as responsible as you.
There's good ol' resourceful Rick again - you were such a good kid. I'm also a little surprised to hear that you've made it unscathed in life this far :)
ReplyDeletehaha this story is not surprising at all as I can totally see you doing this (using your blogger photo for visual reference).
ReplyDelete