Painful childhood memories
As a child, I fell sick a lot - just the luck of the draw, I guess. According to my mother, I should have been entered into the Guinness Book of Records for catching the most diseases in the shortest time. I can remember most of the really serious ones, but the one infection I still fear is otitis media. For those of you not clued into the more exotic disorders, this is a middle ear infection, the bit of the ear with all those exciting little bones that transmit the sounds from the outside world into the inner bit where we make sense of all the noise. This is a really nice, warm place that breeds the best possible class of bacteria and lays down a welcoming mat for viruses as well. Under normal circumstances, it drains through the eustachian tube down into the throat. The first time, I was hit by a snowball and melted water (plus whatever) ran into my ear. The second time was just a month or so later. I assume the first infection never really went away. This was worse than any other sickness where I might have died because, this time, I wanted to die to make it all go away. The final cure was all down to zithromax, one of the all-time best antibiotics in my book. Everyone knows all the ‘cillins. They remain the traditional treatments of first resort. For this condition, I now swear by the drug no-one has ever heard of. Apart from the “max” ending which suggests power, you start off the name of a drug with “z” and folks look at you like you’re pretty dumb. But I know better. Zithromax saved me from the demons that walk in the night and terrify any boy with a fever off the scale who thinks he’s going to die. So physicians wait to see what happens for between one and three days. Having lived through this sickness twice, all I can say is that, if the fever starts to rise, don’t delay more than a day. The experience scars you for life. In fact, in the worst cases, there can be serious complications. For me, zithromax will always be the answer sooner rather than later.
