The other night my older son and I were watching House. It's his favorite show. Sometimes when the team thinks the patient might have RA, son will say "hey mom - that's what you got, right?" "Yep" I tell him, but mine is under control. He does remember when it was not under control and the pain, stiffness and fatigue were overwhelming. Anyhoo, there was a commercial on for Tylenol Arthritis one night ("Tylenol Arthritis" is just an 8-hour extended release version of tylenol, served in a non-child-proof bottle). He said that maybe I should try that some time when my hands and feet hurt. Bless his heart. I told him that I do take that medicine sometimes, but if my joints hurt too much it's not enough and I need to take special medicine called Tramadol that my doctor gives me. I told him that "Tylenol Arthritis" is more for people like Daddy and Gramma who have joints that are just worn out and only hurt sometimes. Mommy's arthritis requires different medicines that I take every day, and they make sure my joints don't usually hurt so I don't need to take "Tylenol Arthritis," "Aleve" or Tramadol.
Good teacher. Maybe he'll be inspired to grow up to cure and prevent RA. And then there are the Viagra commercials...
There are many of you who take the "feminine products only" commercials for granted. Well, I've a few years on some of you then because when commercials of this type first appeared we, my husband and I, found ourselves in the position of answering the questions of a daughter and son old enough to ask questions but not at the age where there was a need to explain "the facts of life."
There wasn't a real concern about when the commercials could be placed then.
Jas, sometimes you also need to use the same approach when responding to adults.
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com