Not that anyone has asked me! This is a purely self-indulgent post, so I’m not even putting it on Facebook. It just struck me, when reading about the whole Clinton collapse kerfuffle, that I have an extremely similar health profile to hers and really, folks, I’m as healthy as a horse. It may indeed turn out that she has serious issues that haven’t been addressed, so I’m just going on what I know. (“All I know is what I read in the papers, and that’s an alibi for my ignorance.” Will Rogers)
Here’s what the Democratic nominee and I have in common health-wise:
1) Seasonal allergies. You’d think that the potential Leader of the Free World would be getting better medical treatment than I have, but seemingly no such luck. I have been battling various and sundry symptoms resulting from this condition for decades, and when I hear Clinton’s hoarseness I cringe in sympathy. I don’t have sneezing or itchy eyes; I have exactly what she has: vocal problems and coughing spells. Just this week I almost had to hang up on someone because I was caught unexpectedly by a fit. Thankfully I could stave it off long enough to give a polite good-bye, but then I whooped and hollered until the spell passed, just as she apparently did on the plane with the reporters. Right now as I’m typing this the whole back of my throat is sore and scratchy-feeling. I need to go do the nasal rinse thing and then use my nasal spray. If I do this faithfully my symptoms abate, and then I forget to do those things, and then the symptoms come right back.
2) Periodic infections, including at least one bout with pneumonia. Going back to my twenties I see a pattern that reflects Clinton’s: developing a problematic set of symptoms and refusing to give in to it and rest, sometimes recovering on my own, sometimes needing medical treatment. In my teaching days I always developed at least one fairly severe sore throat per school year and would have to be sure that I had my stash of sugar-free cough drops always at the ready. Usually I would just power through it, as they say, but sometimes I would get sick enough (and run a fever) so that I’d be forced to go to the doctor. I very rarely missed a day of school because of these illnesses. I’ve had diagnoses of strep throat or a “throat infection” (which was probably strep), but a couple of years ago I was diagnosed with pneumonia and put on antibiotics. I never really felt sick during this time and just followed my usual routine. Eventually I was also diagnosed with a chronic sinus infection, which may have been the source of my other problems over all these years, and I was put on a very high dose of antibiotics for 28 days. I have to be honest and say that I don’t specifically recall being told to drink lots of water during this time, but that is a recommendation online.
3) A fall. Clinton’s fall back in 2012 seems to have stemmed from that nasty dehydration thing again, this time due to some kind of stomach virus. I had what could have been a nasty fall myself several years ago, although it had nothing to do with my digestive tract and everything to do with my overly optimistic view of the weather when setting out on my walk. It was snowing, but lightly, and I figured that would just make a pretty backdrop to the neighborhood. By the time I had almost reached home the snow had intensified and the sidewalks were slippery. Down I went on the corner, banging my hipbone severely. Another step, another angle, and it could have been my head. I really wondered if I had cracked something as it hurt pretty badly, but over the course of about a week the pain went away.
4) Medication for chronic conditions. Clinton takes a blood-thinner because of her tendency to get blood clots and medication to treat her underactive thyroid glad. I take small doses of two blood-pressure medications and have been counseled to consider taking metformin for my at-the-threshold blood sugar levels. Her conditions and mine fall squarely into common issues experienced by people of our age. (I’m 64; she’s 67.)
There you have it. Probably not a significant comparison, but the pneumonia diagnosis got me thinking. Well, I’d better go do my nasal spray!