52 Ancestors Week 23: Health

 From Amy Johnson Crow:

Week 23

The theme for Week 23 is "Health." Health affects everything we do, and it was no different for our ancestors. This week, consider writing about an ancestor who dealt with health issues or one who the picture of health. Another angle would be to write about an ancestor who was a health professional.

Doctor Crusher, report to Sickbay.

    Growing up with two parents who were healthcare professionals was definitely interesting to say the least. Not many people can say that their mother took their blood at the dining room table. Well, they could. But, I think that might be a different issue altogether. As I've discussed many times, my mother was a lab supervisor at Merrimack Medical Laboratories for many years and my father is a dentist. This meant that both of my parents often brought their work home with them. Imagine being six years old and looking through their medical journals. Scary stuff! My dad's journal alone made me want to brush my teeth seven times in a row just to make sure that they were clean! 

Doctor James Ferraiolo
DMD

    Dental health is important and my father, Doctor James Ferraiolo DMD, often made sure my that brother and I had the best dental care ever. Were we good patients? That depends. I still crack jokes when he has me in the operatory chair. His hygienists and I always had a good time at his expense!

    As a dentist, he was well known among my peer group. I remember one time he visited my elementary school to teach us all about the importance of brushing, flossing and everything. Aside from the tips, my friends remember being given these pink tablets called disclosing tablets. They are designed to detect plaque on your teeth and gums and turns them pink for a while so you could see what areas needed to be worked on.

     Looking back, I wonder if there was any hard science behind it. I mean, what if you used the tablets after you had soda or coffee or something? Still, it was a good way to get kids to brush their fangs.  

    I should also note that my dad pratically knew everyone in town and everyone seemingly knew him.  It's not like he was the only game in Salem when it came to dentistry. I think people liked him more than the other places because he had a great bedside manner and a terrific sense of humor. He really makes you feel at ease when you're in the chair. And hey, my teeth have never looked better! Though, I did have to have braces. That wasn't my fault!!

Lab Supervisor Diane 
Ferraiolo

    My mom's work at Merrimack Medical Labs in North Andover, Massachusetts often had her counting blood cells for patients and checking them for various ailments. Merrimack Medical Labs provided important analysis for doctors' offices all across the the valley and my mother was one of the people in charge of making sure the people of the Merrimack valley were healthy.

    Every once in a while, I joined my mother in the lab. I forget why I was often there. I may have been getting bloodwork done. I may have also been picked up from school early and my mother had to go back to work. I'm not sure. However, I do remember using my mother's microscrope a lot while I was there. A REAL lot.

    It's funny because the sight of blood freaks me out a little bit as you can imagine. However, once you look at blood under a microscope it doesn't seem scary in the slightest. Blood cells look like donuts and it was neat looking at them under the microscope.

    I think I also looked at various microbes under the microscope, too. Nothing dangerous mind you! Just paramecia getting devoured by bacteria in real time. To an eight year old boy that is the epitome of cool!

    Like I said it was very interesting growing up with two medical professionals in the house. I had plenty of help with my homework and I've always been grateful to them for any medical assistance they provided whenever I needed assistance of some kind. Because of them, I've always been grateful to doctors of any kind because of all the things they've had to deal with to keep everyone on the planet healthy. They don't get a lot of credit and they definitely deserve all their allocades and my parents are no exception. It's always good to have medical professionals in the family. You never know when you'll need to Facetime a grandchild who has a toothache or something!

See ya next time!