Honest, that was his name.
As I grew older, I wondered why someone would become a doctor with a name like that! I did think it was cool, however, and it always made for some good stories later in my adolescence. Dr. Bonebreak was our family physician when we lived on Fransisco street. His office was down the block on Diversey.
Back in those days, doctors made house calls. If you were sick, you called and the doctor would grab his black bag of paraphernalia and show up at your door hopefully to treat whatever ailed you.
Dr. Bonebreak was within walking distance from our place and I remember him coming over on several occasions. Most of the time, if you could walk, you went to his office, which was also his residence, and waited your turn.
Yes, doctors made house calls, but did not always come if they felt you were not sick enough. Every house had a thermometer so when you called, your parents could give the doctor your temperature and answer a few basic questions. That’s where the expression, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,” came from.
I remember one time I was laid up in bed with the flu and Dr. Bonebreak came over. After the examination, and a shot of penicillin in my rear end, he gave my mother instructions which included having some chicken broth and drinking lots of water.
I asked if it could be cola instead (hey, I was a kid) and he said we could mix half cola and half water as long as I would drink it all, which I did. I still cannot drink cola straight and so I add water or let it sit in the ice for a while until it is diluted. Funny how some things stick with you all your life.’
After we moved to our new home, I no longer saw Dr. Bonebreak. And I dont remember the names of the doctors we kids had after that, but none of them made house calls any more.
I remember one incident later in life, where I was really in pain. It turned out to be appendicitis. I awoke in the morning and informed my parents I wanted to go to the doctor. I had to walk from our house two blocks to the doctors office. It was excruciating. I was a teenager at that time which is why, I suppose, my father didn’t feel it necessary to drive me over there. When I did get there, the doctor called my father and off we went to the hospital for an emergency operation.
I wonder, if Dr. Bonebreak had made the house call instead, would he have operated on the kitchen table?
