Today is your Auntie M's birthday. She came into the world screaming . . . didn't stop for about 3 years . . . lucky to be alive according to my dad!
Believe it or not, modern medicine was still in its infancy when we were children. The field of research for medicines and medical practices was just coming into its own. I mean cocaine was still used medicinally until it was made illegal in 1914 . . . seriously 1914 because so many people had become addicted to it! Sadly, Thalidomide, a drug given to pregnant women to quell nausea, whose side effects wouldn't be revealed until too late, was used in the U.S. through the 1950's. There were thousands of babies born with brain and eye damage . . . horribly deformed limbs. Many of them died. It was actually used in Spain into the 1970's!!
I actually knew a guy in college who was a "Thalidomide Baby" . . . his arms ended at his elbows . . . two fingers formed on each arm that he'd learned to use pretty well. Ironically, his last name was Stubbs. He'd also learned to cope with his condition with humor.
Oh, yeah, I got sidetracked because my sister was a colicky baby and cried all the time.
Paregoric was prescribed by her doctor . . . for the colic. Opium is derived from the same source. This "miracle drug" was developed by Jakob le Mort, a professor of Chemisty in the Netherlands, and his elixir was originally a mixture of honey, licorice, flowers of Benjamin, opium, camphor, oil of aniseed, salt of tartar, and spirit of wine . . . a recipe that seems to have originated during the Renaissance Period. It was used in various formulations for hundreds of years.
Paregoric wasn't regulated until 1970.
Years later . . . and we're talking within the last 10 years or so . . . after reading quite a number of articles and having some experience with food and dye allergies, Mom, Sabrina, and I came to the conclusion that her problems were likely borne of allergies.
No doubt we still have a long way to go in the world of medicine . . . new discoveries are being made every day, but we've come a long way since the early 60's when she and I were born.
You were a little colicky during the first few months of life, but your mom, dad, and I just walked the floor with you until you settled down. Your mom used something called "Gripe Water," which seemed to help . . . it just didn't work all of the time. It was over by the time you were about 4 months old anyway.
As for the title of this blog . . . Mayday . . . that's actually an international call of distress . . . "Mayday! Mayday!" . . . in radio communication. We kidded my sister for years about being born on the perfect day for her . . . our having to call for help every time she screamed!
Incidentally, the word mayday comes from the French "m'aider," a shortened version of "venez m'aider" meaning "come and help me." It was suggested by a senior radio officer in London who was asked to think of a word that would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency.
"Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability." ~ William Osler
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