[LMB] word thanks

[Christine Forber]

At 09:47 PM 8/5/2006 +0100, Helen Hancox wrote:
>
>We realised only one of us would still be alive.

Other than various ailments treated with antibiotics, which 
might have been life-threatening without, I've been 
extremely lucky and have not had any other problems that 
would likely have taken my life 100 yrs ago.

My mother might well be blind, due to a congenital problem 
with one eye which was treated with surgery a number of 
years ago. My father survived polio in the late 40s. Not 
sure what antibiotics were available then for his treatment 
that might not have been 100 yrs ago. My youngest sister 
would probably not have survived infancy. She was back in 
the hospital at 1 week with blood poisoning and it was a bit 
of a close call, or so I understood at the time (I was 8). 
My middle sister has had problems with low blood pressure 
and various gynecological issues which might have been 
life-threatening 100 yrs ago. So by now, I might have been an 
only child!

Interesting to speculate and realize how good we have it, at 
least for the most part. As Kalina said, I'd rather live 
now, with modern hygiene and medicine. My life would have 
been VERY different, since I'm sure I would not have gotten 
a degree in chemistry, if I'd even been able to go to 
university at all, let alone proceed to a PhD.

Christine