Neurotic

Yes, it's true.

I am a bit of a neurotic.

I had a series of small strokes in 2001, followed by brain surgery.

I had to wait a month between the time they told me they were going to cut a hole in my head and the time they actually did it.

Ever since then, I've been a bit of a hypochondriac.

I'm not worried I'm having another stroke (most of the time) but I worry about all kinds of other things.

It may have been unwise of me to become a nurse - my wee bit of medical knowledge has provided me a sea of things to worry about.

It was most assuredly unwise of me to become a parent - sometimes I am gripped by ungodly waves of fear when the kids have a medical symptom.

When something happens, I hold it together.

Only those who know me well would know that my mind is racing crazily with doomsday images of medical catastrophes.

Dear God, Melissa. Where is this coming from?

Yesterday the Wee One developed hives all over his body. His poor belly was covered, and he had splotches on his face, back and legs.

Old photo - no, I didn't take a picture during the hives incident. 

I have no explanation.

No new foods, new detergents, new soap, new lotion. Nothing.

They appeared completely out of the blue, and they resolved spontaneously after a few hours.

The same thing used to happen to the Big Boy before we figured out about the egg allergy.

While he scratched, I panicked. I reacquainted myself with the Big Boy's epi pen, thought about giving children's Benadryl, thought about calling the pediatrician, thought about calling 911, and assessed his breathing every few minutes.

I'm not the only mom out there who struggles with anxiety.

It's nice to know I'm not alone.

But for Pete's sake - do you think the universe could stop providing me with fodder for my insanity? No more hives, please? Thank you.