Is it me or is there a commercial advertising a pill for every ailment under the sun now? Drug companies must be making out like bandits. Got a problem? Take a pill. Pump a spray. Legs won't stop moving? Skin won't stop itching? Eyes won't stop blinking? I mean the list seems endless. If you’ve ever been up after 11pm, you know what I mean.
 
I'm not saying these conditions don't really exist. Honestly, I'm quite sure most of them do. I just don't want to hear about every single one of them during the midnight showing of Law & Order: SVU. (I don't know about you but THAT IS MY SHOW! Talk about good TV.) J  The human body is on its way out from the moment it comes in so I can believe that all kinds of stuff can go wrong. But first, I do not want to hear about them all. I mean, can we pick like the top three of the year or something? (They could do an "Illnesses Awards" show. The top three illnesses of the year are nominated and get to do commercials. Then the winner gets the top commercial spot at the Super Bowl or something and all the proceeds go to help people with that illness. Wouldn't that be cool?!!?) And second, I'm not sure the "just take a pill for it" approach is the best answer.

I've got a tendon in my right foot that I injured years ago while learning to drive a stick shift. (Yes, that's right; I tore a tendon learning to drive. You can stop laughing now.) To this day, anytime I walk more than 30 minutes it blows up and my foot looks like someone shoved a banana up the side of it. It hurts like hell afterwards and takes hours for me to be able to walk again without pain. But I don't want to take a little blue pill twice a day for the rest of my life to treat "swollen right foot tendon syndrome," or SRFTS. J So instead, I try not to overdo it when I walk. I wear the right kind of shoes. I get off my feet as soon as I can when I'm done. And I live with whatever pain comes with a torn tendon.

A couple of you with some pretty serious ailments are probably mad at me right about…now. Your pain is something you can't simply live with. And no amount of proactive preparation seems to ease it for you, right? See, I get it. And I believe you. I'm just questioning how quick we are sometimes to look for the answer that puts billions of dollars in the drug companies’ pockets and keeps us permanently dependent on a pill or a spray. If I'm totally honest, I can admit that I have no idea what a person should do if they have chronic dry eyes. But I do wonder what people were doing to cope with it and other problems back in the day before there was a pill for everything. I mean I remember my grandmother and her heating pads and Epson salts and hot teas with honey that we used to make fun of when we were kids. It took her forever to get ready for bed but she swore it cured whatever she thought she had and let her sleep.

Anyway, whatever the answer is, I know one thing. Those commercials are putting some very suspicious thoughts in my head. Now I'm lying in bed at night wondering if my legs are restless because a muscle jumped. I can't get to sleep for worrying if I'm coming down with some incurable disease that's eventually gonna kill me because the skin on my knee looks a little too ashy. I don't need that in my life, for real. So please drug companies, cut back on the pill-popping ads. Do it for me. Do it for all of us worrywarts calling our doctors at 3am with "torn cuticle syndrome" or TCS. (Hey, that could be a real problem. You don't know.) J

Tell me what you think. ‘Til next time…