blagophilia

I was reminded tonight of something that happened to me when I was a innocent young lad, in the fifth grade I think. It’s nothing sordid, no Oprah moments here. But it has stuck with me well into adulthood.I was, as I said in fifth or maybe sixth grade when this happened. I was sick, nothing amazing there on the surface, but I was seriously ill. I had a very high fever, high enough that it caused worry. Now what did my mother do? She took care of it herself, didn’t take me to the ER. I am not even sure she called the doctor. But I ended up ok, if a little changed by what she did do. The first thing about a very high fever is to cool the person down. This is often down with ice baths. This is what was done with me.I don’t recall too much leading up to it. I was sick, half delirious, and not all there. First they put me in a bath of cold water, well as the tub was filling they put me in. So I am there in my superman underoos in a quickly filling tub of cold water. I was uncomfortable, but not so bad. Then they dumped bags of ice on me. That’s when everything went to hell.I went from uncomfortable to really fucking pissed in about 1 nanosecond. Now I have been cold in my life since then, but this was a whole level of cold unlike anything I’ve ever felt. It was like being dumped in the Arctic I think. My entire body was a mass of tingling, freezing sensation. They had to hold me down too. They being my mother, sister, and a family friend named Anne. You had three women trying to keep a young boy’s flailing to a minimum. I am sure I was screaming and yelling at that point too. At least I recall it sounded very loud to me. It must have been some scene. You’d think ok, shit happens let’s move on. Well for me, it’s had a rather interesting long term effect.I hate cold showers, cold baths, anything cold relating to a tub or shower. I hate them to the point where I would rather go without for a day or two then deal with it. I was a traumatized child as a result. I suspect the loathing is related specifically to a combination of tub/shower and cold water. I say this because I can swim in cold water fine, and I don’t mind getting sprayed with cold water either. Hmmm, maybe I can go on Oprah with this? Another result is my love of hot showers and baths. I love hot showers, showers so hot they nearly burn you. A bath must be steaming hot as well. I find it rather ironic that something that most likely saved my life is something I hate to this very day. I expect I will for the rest of my life.

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Tags:   cold · fever · ice · my life · sickness1 Comment