What did you have when you were young?

mrblanche

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It's amazing to see the changes in medicine since I was a child.

I had friends who had polio. It was pretty common; I remember the first vaccines becoming available. They gave it away at big public events.

I had chicken pox. I remember going to the barber to get a haircut after that, and they were worried about all the scabs on my scalp, under my hair.

I had measles when I was 18 months old, and almost died from it. I was in a coma in the hospital for 3 days. Apparently I had a stroke and heart damage; every time I get an EKG, they say I've had a heart attack.

I had scarlet fever (mild case, but still mighty sick).

I had mumps.

I can't believe that any parent would refuse vaccinations for a lot of this stuff. Children dying from these things was fairly common when I was little.
 

yosemite

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We didn't get vaccinations until Grade 1 and they were done through the school system. The only time any of us children went to a doctor was if we were half dead, or like the time I fed my little brother DDT. He was 4 and I was 5 and I thought it was so pretty (pink) and we pretended he was my little colt and he ate it all up. We didn't have a car and were 10 miles from the nearest town so my mom, when she saw what I had fed him (it was all around his mouth) ran to the nearest neighbour and rushed him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. Mom used old recipes when we were sick, i.e., if we woke with croup she would mix some alum with molasses and we would eat that - worked like a charm.

We both woke to mumps one Christmas morning.

Had measles.

Knew people that had polio.

I had a brain aneurysm when I was 10 months old and was paralyzed on my left side for 4 months because of it. The doctors didn't expect me to live.
 

ut0pia

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I didn't have any of those contageous diseases but I was always sick as a kid. I had chronic bronchitis for a very long time and missed so much school. And then after the beginning of my teenage years, I haven't been sick longer than 1 week. I was born in 1988 and had a the chicken pox vaccine, it was approved later in the US so a lot of ppl my age haven't had the vaccine. For me vaccinations were also done through the school system but those were the ones after the initial baby vaccines. One thing I wonder is, my mom, born in 1962 has a very weird vaccine scar. It's round and she said it goes from your upper arm/shoulder down to below your elbow. I mean, it travels down as you grow not that it is this big lol. The size of it is probably dime sized. I'm just so curious about what this vaccine is because I don' thave it and I am pretty sure it's no longer used.
 

gemlady

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I have been told that if it were not for antibiotics I would not be alive today. I was sick a lot as a child so missed the the usual illnesses because I was not around others who had them. It took a tonsillectomy before I started doing better.
 

pookie-poo

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I remember my mom taking me and my sister over to the neighbor's house, to expose us to chicken pox. I only had a couple, my poor sister had a bazillion!
I remember having mumps around Christmas time. I wasn't able to go Christmas caroling with my Blue Bird group, but they came to my house and sang for me (outside, of course, where it was safe from mumps!) Other than that, I had every upper respiratory infection that came around....still do. I blame it on being a 4 pack a day second hand smoker throughout my childhood....(both my parents smoked like chimneys!)
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

I didn't have any of those contageous diseases but I was always sick as a kid. I had chronic bronchitis for a very long time and missed so much school.
I was always sick as a kid, too. My mother smoked carrying me and I grew up in a home with two smokers and everyone that came over smoked.
Lots of bronchitis, ear infections as a baby, brushes with pneumonia, etc.
The vaccination that you're confused about sounds like small pox. Lots of older people will have a small dime sized scar on one of their shoulders. It's no longer even part of regular vaccinations given - at least not in the US.


I had chicken pox. An extremely mild case of it that the pox didn't even itch (only had four of them).
 

pookie-poo

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

I didn't have any of those contageous diseases but I was always sick as a kid. I had chronic bronchitis for a very long time and missed so much school. And then after the beginning of my teenage years, I haven't been sick longer than 1 week. I was born in 1988 and had a the chicken pox vaccine, it was approved later in the US so a lot of ppl my age haven't had the vaccine. For me vaccinations were also done through the school system but those were the ones after the initial baby vaccines. One thing I wonder is, my mom, born in 1962 has a very weird vaccine scar. It's round and she said it goes from your upper arm/shoulder down to below your elbow. I mean, it travels down as you grow not that it is this big lol. The size of it is probably dime sized. I'm just so curious about what this vaccine is because I don' thave it and I am pretty sure it's no longer used.
You're probably thinking of the smallpox vaccine scar. I have one, and my parents both have it. I think it was mainly given in the left upper arm, and usually leaves a pit like scar. The World Health Organization said that smallpox had been eradicated in 1977, so they no longer routinely vaccinate for it. I think some healthcare people and armed services still can opt to receive it though. Now, they say that some of the terrorist countries have smallpox in their biologic weapons.
 

rapunzel47

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

You're probably thinking of the smallpox vaccine scar. I have one, and my parents both have it. I think it was mainly given in the left upper arm, and usually leaves a pit like scar. The World Health Organization said that smallpox had been eradicated in 1977, so they no longer routinely vaccinate for it. I think some healthcare people and armed services still can opt to receive it though. Now, they say that some of the terrorist countries have smallpox in their biologic weapons.
Yep I have one too -- it's at the top of my left thigh. Most of the time they were done on the upper arm, though. It was required before starting kindergarten, and the only vaccine I remember receiving before the polio vaccine was developed. One of my classmates had polio in grade two, and I've known many people who have had it before I knew them.

Me, I had chickenpox and whooping cough during kindergarten -- missed a bunch of school that year. Had mumps just before grade one. Didn't have anything else until grade four, when I had both measles and German measles (over Christmas holidays :eek:n fire: ). Other than those standard things, though, I was a healthy kid -- a cold here and there, but nothing like some kids.
 

misty8723

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I had one chicken pox (pock?) and measles. I don't recall anything other than that. I don't think I had the mumps, but I could have. My DH's parents had polio when they were children, and it left them both without the use of their legs. I can remember standing in line getting the vaccine in a lump of sugar.
 

katiemae1277

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I've only had chicken pox- my mom thought i was naturally immune to it cause I was exposed to it a lot when I was young and never caught it- I ended up getting it when I was 12 and it was awful!
 
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mrblanche

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I have the smallpox vaccination scar, too. I worry that small-pox might be re-released into the wild by some terrorist.

There's a very good book about smallpox. I've heard the author on NPR.

A lot of diseases are very rare today. Pertussis (whooping cough) is actually getting more common, especially in adults.

I dare say few people today remember the iron lung wards in hospitals, common in my childhood.
 

tierre0

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I remember having the chicken pox and the measles. I don't think I ever had the mumps though and am not sure whether I was vaccinated for it or not.

I remember getting several needles during my early school years because most children in my age group (era) didn't get any of their shots until they started school then it was handled through public health.

I know one was for small pox, a couple were TB tests and I think tetanus boosters as well

I don't ever remember being on antibiotics as a child as well, but do know by the time my nephews and nieces begin to arrive kids always seem to be taking them for something. .
 

natalie_ca

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I had Chicken Pox, not sure how old I was though.

I also had the German Measles and nearly died. I was so feverish that I remember hallucinating. I think I was around 4 or 5 and was admitted to the Children's Hospital.

I had Shingles in 2002 or so. I broke out at work and knew what it was. I tried to get into Occupational Health or the ER and both told me that they didn't have time to see me
So I kept the area covered well with a sterile bandage and kept right on working until I could get into see my doctor a day or two later. I went on Acyclovir and was off work for a week.

I've never had Mumps!

I've had the Red Measles when I was a kid and am not immune to them to this day. I've had them 3 or 4 times as an adult. Each time I get them, they aren't as intense, but they still itch and hurt!

I was vaccinated against Polio as a child. I have the reminder on my upper left arm.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I was vaccinated against Polio as a child. I have the reminder on my upper left arm.
I thought that was the smallpox vaccination on the upper left arm or did they combine the two sera?
 

natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I thought that was the smallpox vaccination on the upper left arm or did they combine the two sera?
Hmm. It might have been. I never really paid much attention. I know they don't do it anymore though.

But there was also a polio vaccine and I know I got that. Maybe it was combined?
 

clixpix

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Hmm. It might have been. I never really paid much attention. I know they don't do it anymore though.

But there was also a polio vaccine and I know I got that. Maybe it was combined?
The smallpox vaccine is the one that left the scar. The polio vaccine was oral, like a sugarcube. I vividly remember getting both, for very different reasons!
 

natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by clixpix

The smallpox vaccine is the one that left the scar. The polio vaccine was oral, like a sugarcube. I vividly remember getting both, for very different reasons!
I remember those cubes!! Gross!!
 

valanhb

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You mean besides having allergies so bad that my eyes would swell shut, being allergic to the sun and having to wear big floppy hats and long sleeves and jeans outside until I was about 10? And dry skin eczema so bad I had to wear gloves to bed so I didn't wake up to bloody sheets from scratching in my sleep. Oh yeah, it was fun! Still, I don't remember being miserable as a child. Funny how that works.

Had Scarlett Fever (Mike, you're one of the few who I've met who had it too!). I think I was like 4 or 5, and I know I had it over Christmas.
That stunk. I do remember being completely miserable with that.

Had Chicken Pox too, pretty bad. My sister got it over Spring Break and she was all better in time to go back to school. Oh she was so mad! I got an additional week off of school since I got it after her.
 
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mrblanche

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The Scarlet Fever I had was pretty mild, but I was still very sick. I remember being carried to the car and into the hospital emergency room. And I'm told that that disease is one that has a very distinctive smell, one that an experienced doctor at that time could recognize when we walked into the room.
 
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