A Sickly Child

I did not start out well, but I hope to finish well. The New Testament has a verse that compares life to a race. After five years of age, I was a sickly child and racing was not my best sport. I was pigeon toed , knock kneed, and tender footed and could not turn around once without getting dizzy (I hated merry go rounds). When we played swing the statue, it was hard for me to get my balance and stand still I was so dizzy from the swinging. But I was a spunky child and tried to play as hard as the rest.


Daddy said a nurse they hired for me when I was a baby drugged me during the day and I did not sleep at night, so he had to walk the floor with me. I do not know if that had anything to do with my coordination problems, but it might. I could not play the rhythm games and the hand clapping games girls love. I worked and worked, but could never get my hands to go the right way on time. I could not jump rope either. When I ran, I tended to trip myself and fall and skin my knees. Over and over. I learned to roller skate at 12 after many, many falls on the skating rink rim. Gymnastics were not popular then, but cartwheels were. I was not able to do them. In the 70’s I learned why. I have a vertebrae that is attached to the sacrum. I also have an extra vertebrae and two extra ribs. So my back can not cooperate for a cartwheel. Wish I had know that as a child.


I had the “German” measles when I was 5 and was very sick with a high fever. My blonde, curly hair went dark brown and straight and I looked like an emaciated war orphan at 6. In the second grade I weighed the least in my class at 32 pounds and I was the smallest child. Red Rover found me hanging on the arms of the kids by my neck. It was hard to break through the line that way. No momentum, no leverage!


When I was 9, I went to the movies and ate a big bag of popcorn. That night I got very ill. My parents thought it was from the popcorn, but Daddy realized when I started doubling over that I was very sick and called the doctor. I went to her office near Centennial Park in Nashville and she examined me. Another doctor was called and I was sent to the hospital. They pumped my stomach and I had surgery to remove my appendix. Mother said I almost died, since the appendix was about to burst.


If I sat on the grass when I was playing outside I got large whelps. I also got them when chiggers or mosquitoes found me, too. Sometimes the bites got as big as a half dollar. My skin was very sensitive.


One day Mother put makeup on me for a Christmas play. To take it off she used a beauty cream. “Deep Magic “ cleansing cream was my nemesis. My entire face swelled and was red and my eyes almost closed. She was careful after that about what she put on me.


Today I do not get sick as much. I eliminated the foods that I am allergic to for a number of years and now I can eat some of them if they are organic and I eat them in moderation. I take homeopathic drops, if I need them, for tree, grass, ragweed, mold, dust, and yeast allergies. But they are seasonal, except for the last three. I try to avoid mold, dust, and yeast. God has done a lot of healing in my body. I am very thankful for His kindness. A lot of my healing was emotional and mental. But that is for another day of blogging.