What's Up, Doc?

Dear Diary,

Hello, Stranger.  I know, it's been a while.  But I'm back.  We've been super sick around here.  One of the things you don't think about when starting a big family is (what I now call) the Domino Effect of Sickness.  We never all get sick at the same time; rather it's one goes down after the other after the other.  This lovely bout of influenza has been with us about two weeks now.  Yuck!

Also, we've been worried sick around here about one of our most beloved relatives who had a little "C-word" scare.  I'm happy to report that the biopsy results came back clear.  But it was pretty hairy around here until we heard the good word.

There's something about getting sick - and fearing getting Sick (ya know, "sick" with a capital "S") - that really gets a person thinking why?

When it's the kids getting sick, I tend to play this little game of How Did it Happen?  I start thinking: I knew I should have wiped that Target shopping cart or Every time I take the kids to the pediatrician for a well-child check up we end up...not well or I knew we shouldn't have had that play-date with little Joey, he's been coughing his head off...you know, trying to find the culprit, trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.  Which, of course, it will.

And when you (or someone you love) gets Sick (or fears she is), that little mind game gets even worse.  In our situation, there was a lot of wondering why?  Not why me, just why?  Some of the top concerns were: Is it deodorant, is that the cause?  Or maybe standing too close to the microwave?  It's gotta be the cell phones;  all this technology is just not good for us.

And I get it, I played the same mind game when my mom got Sick.  And still do, in attempt to protect my children.  The problem is, there are a million things you can blame.  Is it the microwave, the deodorant, the cell phone?  No.  Yes.  Maybe.  Probably a little bit of each of those things and all the others we think of and those we don't think about.

I like to hope that the scientific advances and medical breakthroughs that have come with living in this Jetsons-like world of futuristic technology far outweigh the potential risks of having a cell phone or an iPad with us at all times.  But who knows?

What I do know is that no one is going to get Cancer from eating too much kale.  Or too many organic apples.  Scientists may determine deodorant is the Number One cancer causer in twenty years but I'm certain they won't say we should have laid off the veggies.

So, I'm going to avoid the stuff I already know is bad (from BPAs and pesticides to sticking a bobby pin in an electrical outlet) and I'm going to try not to worry about all the conspiracy theory stuff.  Instead, I'll just super load my body and my children's with as much of the good stuff as I can and hope, as I always do in my little optimistic mind, that the good guys always win.

On a happy note, I went to the eye doctor for the first time in five years last week, and guess what?!  It turns out I don't need glasses anymore (just when I had picked out the cutest replacement pair too!).  I've never heard of eyesight getting better with age (The twenty-something intern said at least three times, "This sometimes happens when you get older."  Ugh.).  Instead, I'm going to give all the credit to the carrots.  The abundance of carrots.  Hey, my Dad always said they were good for my eyes!

Talk soon,
Becky