Odd memory: At one point, when I was maybe 8, my mom took me into the doctor to have some weird spots that had been appearing on my arm looked at. I now realize she was concerned about leukemia or something equally scary. The doctor couldn't figure it out, and eventually they went away. What I don't think I told anyone until this day is that I knew exactly what they were, but was too afraid of getting in trouble to say: they were frostbite. I had found that spray-on deoderant builds up a thick layer of intriguing, fizzing goop if your target is very close to the nozzle. It is also very cold. (It also contains propane as an accelerant, but I didn't discover THAT goody until 4 or 5 years later.) The spots were simply the areas I had done this, using my arm as a target.
Two reactions now that I think it over: I can't blame that poor doctor for failing to diagnose highly localized spots of frostbite on an 8 year old. And once again I feel rather guilty for what I put my parents through unknowingly.
(Wikipedia tells me the medical term for frostbite is congelatio. I sure hope that isn't ever actually used. We keep losing toothy old anglo-saxon terms {sucking chest wound} for much more anemic alternatives {pneumothorax}. "Congelatio" sounds like a dessert, while "frostbite" is some kind of evil imp, or at least a prog metal band. The choice is obvious.)
Two reactions now that I think it over: I can't blame that poor doctor for failing to diagnose highly localized spots of frostbite on an 8 year old. And once again I feel rather guilty for what I put my parents through unknowingly.
(Wikipedia tells me the medical term for frostbite is congelatio. I sure hope that isn't ever actually used. We keep losing toothy old anglo-saxon terms {sucking chest wound} for much more anemic alternatives {pneumothorax}. "Congelatio" sounds like a dessert, while "frostbite" is some kind of evil imp, or at least a prog metal band. The choice is obvious.)