When I was growing up I considered myself to be one tough cookie. I could out wrestle, out run, out climb, out monkey bar anyone. I could squish spiders, catch grass hoppers. I could hike huge mountains with the boy scouts. I could play tackle football with the big boys. I was tough.
I never complained about anything. You see, I was the quiet one. My sister always had center stage so I sat quietly back and sucked away at my thumb… even when I was sick (which wasn’t very often). If I ever complained, my parents took me very seriously.
When I was a baby, my mom noticed that I was crawling crooked. They took me to the doctor and realized I had a broken arm. I never cried. They don’t even know how it happened. Ummm… cough (Kerflop) ah hem.
Once, when I was a kid I had a sharp stomach pain. It hurt so bad that I could hardly breathe. My parents rushed me to the hospital. After sitting in the ER and waiting for the doctor, the pain had magically disappeared. Umm… how do I say this… it was just gas. I was mortified. I made up my mind then and there that I would never go to the doctor again.
Well, this last week I realized that I have gone soft. All of my tomboyness has disappeared. I had a sore throat. I was miserable. I cried. I had my mom come take care of me. I had heard that the boy down the street had strep. That must be it. There must be something terribly wrong with me. I called the doctor I went. I sat. I waited. I began to feel really stupid. What am I doing here. I don’t belong here. I’m tough. I don’t come to the doctor’s for a sore throat. Oh, but it has to be strep because I can barely swallow. The nurse came in. She took a culture. I gagged… It was negative. Ahhh… get me out of here. I’m so embarrassed. Rolling my eyes at myself, I ducked my head and ran out.
I went to the doctor for a cold.
My name is Manda and I love creating 
Hee hee. I went to the ER a few times to see if my wrist was broken and it was never anything but a sprain and I always felt so dumb. Then, the one time we just assumed it was a sprain and didn’t go until two weeks later when it was still really hurting we found out it was broken. I felt really dumb again and my mom felt like mother of the year. Why do things always seem to work out that way? Just lucky, I guess.
Oh, how I hate going to the doctor only to find out what I think I’m dying of is merely a cold and if I had toughed it out another few days it would have gone away one its own. That is the worst!
Ah, it’s true. I totally broke her arm. But man, I was just trying to pull my baby sister along with me. How was my three year old brain supposed to know I could actually break her?
Are you feeling better, Mand?
I can TOTALLY believe Kerflop broke your arm … she is such a bully and all. bwahahaha
Here’s to getting better … sometimes those colds are wretched. And even worse – they sometimes hang on much longer than anything else.
Be better.
I must admit, I always remember admiring your toughness…and ability to do everything and look good while doing it. Glad to hear that your human!
I took Connor to the ER a month ago, I thought I had broke his fingers…it was nothing.