Health Problems

Several of my health problems can be traced back to untreated ailments I had in my early teens. My mother is a world-class hypochondriac, and like many of that sort has trouble realizing anyone else can be sick. My father was of the "suffer in silence" school and felt that complaining about "minor" illnesses was the mark of a sissy, and anything you actually could complain about was minor.

One example, histoplasmosis. I remember my parents worrying about this, due to the starlings which routinely roosted in our trees. Yet they never took me to the doctor all that long Summer when I had a severe, chronic cough and chest pains. Turns out I had coughed so hard I broke a rib; it healed wrong and still causes me problems. I also have scars on my retinas typical of people who have had histoplasmosis.

When my parents noticed there was something wrong, they dealt with it as best they could. They just didn't seem to realize how often my sister and I were actually sick.