When you think you have heard it all...

A child came into the hospital to have surgery, and during the history portion of the pre surgery interview, an interesting story came out.

The parent said that the child had had asthma when he was younger. The doctor advised that they get a chihuahua to help with the asthma. The family purchased one dog without effect. Then they purchased a second dog--also without restults. They purchased a third dog, and after a period of time the second dog was credited with "taking away" the asthma. Why did the second dog and not the third get the curing accolades? Well, the second dog was the one that started wheezing after the child stopped, so that pup is the one that did it.

We all noticed how "normal" the parent appeared, and marveled that while we had all heard some odd tales in our nursing careers, this one was right up there at the top.

A few minutes ago, before I started writing this post, I googled "chihuahua and asthma." Turns out this is a widely held belief, and not quite as unusual as we thought. Children often outgrow asthma, and chihuahuas often have wheezing and other respiratory problems. If the timing between the two things coincided, I suppose some might draw an inaccurate conclusion. I am always interested in the origins of superstitions and wives' tales, so I found this a bit entertaining.

I still "knock on wood" at the appropriate times, and I know that the "full moon" concept still seems to have validity more often than appears coincidental to me.

Any wives' tales you grew up with? Any you still believe?