Onions to the rescue

Let me just preface this by saying- I am a nurse. Went to school and got my degree…. the whole 9 yards. And I find true value in modern medicine. Nathan on the other hand has never been really impressed by the modern health care system and so it is not uncommon for he and I to differ in our options of certain things. I have slowly and somewhat reluctantly at times let him experiment with his more wholesome ways of handling medical issues. And between you and I…. sometimes he proves his theory right.

Now please note: what I am about to write is by no means a substitute for a doctors diagnosis of any given illness.

So our latest bout of discussion was our 4 year old son- who every Jan/Feb and March ends up with some sort of crazy, deep cough that seems to last for weeks. A cough that usually interrupts his sleep at night. After several days and nights of using my modern remedies- good ol’ cough medicine, Zyrtec, nasal saline, plenty of fluids, and a bit of honey when he would get his coughing spasms- he continued to cough just as crazy as the day before. There was no fever, really no other symptoms at all…. just a ridiculous cough.

So Nathan set to working on a concoction that I was sure would be a waste of time- he had read about onions helping a cough. The recipe simple really- sugar, and onions. In a small dish he placed a layer of thinly sliced onion, covered liberally with sugar, then another layer of thinly sliced onion, again covered liberally with sugar. On and on until the dish was full to the top. It sat for several hours…. 8-10. It was then refrigerated and every 4 hours he would give a teaspoon to Kale. Which apparently wasn’t bad tasting at all- he never fought to take it.

I waited…. excited really for the evening to come- knowing we would have yet another interrupted night of sleep- and knowing I could say “told ya it wouldn’t work”.

Problem with that theory…. it never came true. Kale slept great- no coughing- not even a little. So while the modern remedies failed me this go around- of all things- onions to the rescue!!