I recently went to the doctor to discuss just how bad I look on paper. When I list my ailments, I very much resemble a frail elderly woman. Make no mistake, with three children, I can ill afford to nurse any ailment (real or imagined). I manage just fine. I can cut apples and hold the big girl. I can unload 75% of the groceries from the car in one trip to keep her from running into the street (which to my dismay she does every chance she gets). I can lug three basketfuls of clean laundry up three flights of stairs to the "lair" a.k.a. land of Cory and his dirty drawers. I can help Daniel do his homework, while fighting off the girl and fixing dinner. But I cannot bend over gracefully or sit Indian style. The latter I have never been able to do.

So I go to the doctor and I say, "Relax, sit back, we'll be here awhile." I break out the list I made the night before because one of my mothering side effects is loss of memory with anything of importance regarding myself. After a good two hour visit with Mr. Doctor, I emerge with a novella of prescriptions. EGAD. My personal inclination toward pill taking is not to do it. I have always been reluctant to take even an ibuprofen. I just don't enjoy the thought of ingesting chemicals and I have never been tempted to take an illicit drug. But the thought of another fall down the stairs because of weak knees or a sleepless night because of a screaming back has gently persuaded me to at least try Mr. Doctor's solutions.

After picking up my sacks of Rx's from the lovely drive-thru window at Rite Aid, I start to read the information sheets that come with each one. I am looking for interactions they may have missed or side effects like uncontrollable diarrhea. Let me just say, what I read made me quite reluctant to take any of it. The side effects from one can cause the symptoms I am trying to avoid by taking another. And anytime this phrase...... can cause fatal (although rare) bleeding... are associated with something going in my body, anxiety is increasing!

Ideally, I could just power through the pain or inconvenience, like our grandparents did. But I am a big, fat wimp and I am caving. I would ask that you check to see I am not bleeding to death every other week though. Thanks :0)

Heather

For information on Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (my particular affliction), you can visit
http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/DiseaseCenter/polyarticularJRA.asp
or for services provided to children with arthritis free of charge
http://www.shriners.com/Hospitals/_Hospitals_for_Children/