Changing times.

I think I'm becoming a more (physically) healthy person than I used to be. By that I mean...
when I was a kid (ie 6 and under), I got a lot of infections (ear, throat, lung, bladder), and I was often on antibiotics.
When I was 7, doctors "discovered" that I had a host of allergies, which were spinning my immune system into a constant state of turmoil.
When I was 8, I had my tonsils and adenoids removed! This put an end to the 4-month bouts of tonsilitis I'd been experiencing every winter.
IN PLACE OF TONSILITIS, I often ended up with bronchitis in the winter, but maybe only one 2-week run of it, not 4 months of agony.
When I was 12, I had a month of severe asthma in the form of bronchial spasms. My bronchial tubes would close off for 10-seconds (in the midst of a coughing fit), and then would re-open. Asthma testing was inconclusive, the cause of the spasms was never specifically identified (although moldy leaves were thought to be the culprit, as this all occured in the fall of grade 7, and one of my "discovered" allergies was mold).
Tracking my medical health through high school, I was the only kid I knew who had an allergist, a chiropractor, and ear/nose/throat specialist (though I haven't seen him for years), and a GP who I saw once a week. That's right, age 13 was a banner year -- I started "allergy shots", because oral antihistamines were no more effective than sugar pills. I was still pretty regularly sick with bronchitis, ear infections...ugh. Throw in all the hormones and blabhblah social crap of high school, and ages 13-18 were a barrel of fun.

TODAY: age 23. Serious or chronic illnesses don't follow me so closely. I get a crazy cold/cough/throat/nose blech thing late-fall/early winter (ie, right now), and my allergies flare up in the spring, or at camp (uh, moldly cabins, dusty carpets, lots of grass and flowers...), but I am more or less healthy. I don't see a chiropractor very often, I enjoy quite a bit of physical activity (running, walking, chasing the bus), and I eat well...

BUT TODAY, today I went to the clinic at school to see a doctor, because I just can't kick this cough/cold that's been sitting on my head for a couple weeks. And it hurts to swallow. Boohoo.
Most people who aren't paranoid about infectious things probably wouldn't think twice about CHILLING OUT and letting it pass, but not me. I need to make sure that I am OK.

*sighs*

The good news is that I don't have bronchitis, I just seem to be prone to wicked colds.

woot, woot?