# Tuberculosis

          👆   These red titles are links to more detail...
 
My mother built bombers during WWII. My dad flew as a radio operator in the Pacific war. They returned to hide in their tiny Midwestern town and have a family. Their idyll was short lived - when I was two years and nine months old mom was overcome by the tuberculosis we both caught from her father, and she nearly died in the state hospital.

          🧩   This mix of topics probably seems chaotic, but they are all clues...
 
I have records of three positive chest X-rays for TB before I was three. I was tested for brucellosis (bovine tuberculosis), apparently positive since I was then X-rayed again for that.

          🎲   Some with surprisingly formative effects...
 
When I was six I passed out while standing motionless for hours in suffocating hot weather, beside my mom's chair while visiting her ancient aunt. I was taken to the hospital for three days and given all kinds of inconclusive physical tests. A month later they put me back in the hospital and cut out my tonsils and adenoids. Made no difference in how often I was sick, but drastically changed how I felt my head, neck, and throat.