Midlife Crisis Hawaii

My small kid time doctor was Dr. Sexton.  Whenever I got sick, needed a physical, get checked for broken bones, or patch my puka head – we headed for the children’s wing at Straub Clinic.

This is how I remember it – before it became a hospital and it was just a clinic.  My mom would take me into the round lobby where she’d check me in, then we’d head over to the pediatric wing.  I remember the examining rooms.  They had sliding doors with a frosted glass window.  And a different animal was painted on each window.  A giraffe, an elephant, a hippopotamus – each with a friendly, welcoming smile.

And in the waiting area, I remember the Highlights magazine.  I used to go directly to the last page to look for the hidden items puzzle.  I used to hate it when someone had circled all of the hidden items.

Dr. Sexton was a good pediatrician.  He was tall, bald, and had big ears.   But he was super friendly to kids and always made me feel at ease.  And let’s face it – there was always the anxiety lurking in the back of your mind that…

… you might have to get a shot.

And when the time came, I remember having to go the the medicine office where the nurse was and sitting on the chair waiting to get poked.  But promises from mom that we’d stop by the drive in to eat later if I didn’t cry always seemed to work.  Visions of Chun Hoon drive-in green river soda kept the tears away.

Oh, and the other cool thing in the nurses place was the air-tube system that they used to send records to and fro.  They’d fill those bullet looking containers with papers, stick them into the vacuum tube launcher, close the door and press the button and zoom they were gone!  It was so Jetsons-like!  And the incoming tubes were cool too with a big thump that would kinda make me jump.

I don’t recall a coffee shop back then as it was just a clinic and not a hospital yet.  But I remember in the green painted stairways, the vending machines.  Especially the candy machine.  And every once in a while, my mom would slip me a dime for a package of the salted peanuts.

I see that the original building is still there  – right across of Thomas Square.  Of course there is a hospital now built up around the old building.  I wonder what it looks like inside now.  I wonder if I’d be able to recognize any of the old hallways and stairwells that I used to walk down.  Maybe it’s time I pay a visit… you know, for old times sake.

Here’s a story I wanted to share about “going doctor” that my older brothers told me.  We grew up about 1 mile from Kailua town.  My brother’s friends – also brothers – Walter and Gary lived on the other side of the block from us.  And their doctor was located in Kailua town.  Gary HATED getting shots.  Not that Walter enjoyed them either.  But this one time at their check-ups, Walter went in first being the older of the two.  When he came out of the examining room, Gary looked up at him and asked him if he got a shot.  As soon as Walter nodded yes, Gary bolted out the front door and took off running home – never looking back.  He sprinted the full mile!

His mom should’ve promised him green river.

Do you remember your pediatrician?  Where was your doctor’s office?  Do you have any special memories of “going doctor”?  Did your parents bribe you if you didn’t cry when getting a shot?  Or maybe your doctor had a toy-box to bribe you?  Got any funny doctor stories to share?

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Another big event coming up in April to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii.  Featuring an international buffet, candy bar, door prizes, special performance by Drill Team Hawaii, and most of all – live dance music provided by LS34 band!

…that my whole family and everyone else were robots from space and I was the only human being on Earth.

…if I brushed my teeth with soap, I could blow bubbles out of my mouth – like The Three Stooges.  (didn’t work)

…that women had babies from eating too much.

…once it starts raining, if I furrowed my forehead real hard – I could make it rain harder.

…that after you complete school, you worked for the government.

…the man living next door to us was Captain Honolulu – since he wore coveralls like Captain Honolulu did.

…Nancy Sinatra was hot.

…when flying above the clouds in the airplane – if I looked hard enough – I could see angels.

…the Tooth Fairy was real.

…when I didn’t go to school because I was sick, if the police found out – they would arrest me.

…Combat, The Wild Wild West, Bonanza, and Star Trek sucked.

…burning incense was cool.

…playing with toads caused warts.

…on one of those super cold mornings, I was going to look outside and see snow.

…if I dug down all the way through the Earth, I’d reach China.

And finally – When I was small, I used to think that my dad made me take a bath every day just to punish me.

Okay, your turn to finish the line: When I Was Small, I Used To Think…

I was feeling lousy yesterday at work so I went to the doctor to get some meds – and took off the rest of the day to get some rest.  Then I started thinking about when I used to get sick as a little kid.

You know what used to be weird?  When I was too sick to go to school, I’d have to stay home while my mom took my older brothers to school – and I’d feel bad.  I mean I felt like I was breaking the law.  I felt like I was playing hooky or something.  And I used to get a little scared.

But when mom returned home – it was all good again.

When I’d get sick and was laying in bed with a fever – my mom would fill the tall plastic Tupperware cup with ice and 7Up that I would sip between naps.  That was the only time we drank 7Up.  We used to have the tall bottle of 7Up stored under the kitchen sink and it had a Tupperware cap on it that kept it fresh.  And the only time that the 7Up was touched was when someone was sick.

After all, wasn’t 7Up initially invented as a medicine?

And the other thing that I remember as a sick kid was the St. Joseph Children’s Aspirin.  It was kept in the cupboard next to the stove on the middle shelf – next to the candy sprinkles.  It was orange flavored.  The aspirin, not the sprinkles.  And I remember my mom giving me one of the tiny aspirin tablets and telling me to suck on it until it dissolved – just make believe that it’s candy.  And I didn’t mind the taste either.  In fact, I probably sneaked an aspirin more than once because I was jonesing for candy (and the sprinkles was already down to the bottom of the bottle).

And lunch would be none other that Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.  Maybe with a couple of crackers.  Depending on how sick I was – it usually involved less than 10 spoonfuls of soup and a half a cracker.

But being sick also meant not going outside to play when everyone else came home from school and was playing outside.  In fact, it meant taking a bath early – before the 5:00 required time, even if the calendar said that it wasn’t your turn to bocha first.  That part sucked.

As an adult, getting sick is not quite the same.  There’s no one waiting on me anymore.  I have to make my own soup, pour my own soda, but yet I still choose to bocha early!  And the strangest part is – I still feel guilty about not going to work.

What do you remember about getting sick when you were small?  Did you mom rub Vicks Vapor Rub on your chest?  Or maybe on your throat when you had a sore throat?  I hated ear-aches as they always came in the middle of the night.  Did you suffer from ear-aches?  What were some of the remedies your mom or dad had for you when you were little?

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Tickets are still available!

What’s that mean anyway?  All I know is my head is stuffy, my body aches, my gala-galas is green, and I feel hot – then cold, – in other words: I’m sick.

Called in sick today but worked from home for a few hours anyway – between naps.  Paula is out getting me some cold medicine and after making me some chicken soup, I’ll take the medicine and be out for the night.

Got me thinking about when I used to be sick – small kid time.

My mom had a tall bottle if 7UP under the kitchen sink capped with the Tupperware soda bottle cap that kept it fizzy.  As I’d be laid up in bed, my mom would fill the familiar tall plastic Tupperware cup with ice and 7Up and leave it next to me – to sip as I woke up from my naps.  Actually, she used to wake me up from my naps to drink some 7UP – but I think she was waking me up more to check that I’m okay: because that’s what mothers do.

And that was the only time we ever drank 7UP.  It was like medicine to us.

You know what’s funny?  When I get sick and have body aches – I moan and groan only when Paula is around.  No sense make drama if no one is there to help you, right?  And I’m sure it’s the motherly instinct that makes them want to take care of us.  Right, moms?

Our dog, Lexi always seems to know who’s sick in the house and will stay by their side the whole time.  She slept with me all day today.

Okay, I’m starting to fade.

So, what do you do when you get sick?  Suck it up and fight it or play it out as long as you can?  What do you think about using cold remedies to “mask” the symptoms just so you can get through the day?  Or night?  Any secret remedies to share?  ** cough, cough, ack! **