After my parents died, I was cleaning out their medical equipment and I came upon this tin with "Pennies for umbilical hernias only" written in my mother's neat hand. Inside was, indeed, a collection of pennies.
My dad in particular was a man of science. A straight up and down widely-read, show me the evidence or else fellow with an incredible memory. Mum was more flexible in her approach but neither were out there on the fringe. Both were country GPs.
So, did they believe this worked?
Was this a placebo? So parents would feel something was being done while nature took its course?
I never asked, so I'll never know, but I keep this tin with its pennies in my consulting room.
It reminds me to hold knowledge lightly.
