Julia Spencer-Fleming - Out Of The Deep I Cry

After she had washed up, she started a fire, stretched out on the sofa, and began reading.

Mar. 6 th. V. Rainy & cold. Called to Mrs. B.G.’s house for delivery, got stuck in the mud as their creek had risen & had to walk the last mile. Mr. G. took his team & rescued my automobile. Mrs. G delivered of a boy, 6 lbs 5 oz at 6:00 pm, good color & sound lungs. Home early for supper-Hard rolls & sausages, chocolate cake.

Mar. 7 th. Rainy & cold. Newspaper this morning filled with tales of flooding along the Sacandaga & the Hudson. I have observed much the same in my travels. Garaged the automobile & took the buggy to-day. In surgery: Saw Thomas F. for stitches, clean & debrided. Mrs. James McC. for removal of goiter, 12 oz & v. complete. Ralph Y., ag’d 4 for trench foot, powdered w/ alum & instructed Mrs. Y. to keep him out of water 1 week. Called to H. McAlistair’s house, twins, ag’d 13. Inflammation of throat, croupal cough, fever & difficulty breathing. Dx croup, Rx tincture of Aconite 1 tX20 minutes.

Mar. 8 th. Clearing, cold. Called v. early to DeGroot house in the valley to see Jan DeG., ag’d 13. Sore throat & fever over the night, frequent urination & many bowel movements. Upon examination, white pseudomembrane. Dx diphtheria. Suggested hiring nurse, Rx gargle of potassium chlorate & saline drops. Lengthy talk w/ Mr. DeG., who resists idea of serum anti-toxin. V. disturbed to hear Mr. DeG. had several friends & neighbors to call Thursday, when his brother returned from Amsterdam. One family-McAlistairs. Strongly suggested he notify those attending the party of J’s Dx. Promised to return to-morrow. Called again on MacAs, advised that catarrh may be diphtheria. Mrs. McA. more forward in her thinking & most eager to obtain serum for her twins. Returned to surgery, brought serum to McA. twins. Home v. late.

Mar. 9 th. Clear & warming. Excellent sermon to-day by Dr. Lee on the evils of rum smuggling, which is much in the news for our area-compared those who “wink” the eye at it to the Citizens of Sodom who allowed vice to flourish. Dinner after w/ Mr. & Mrs. Collins, v. good crown roast & bread pudding. Called after on DeG. house, J. much worse, w/ foul-smelling white exudate & much coughing & sweating. Argued for using serum to Mr. DeG., who is much afraid of harming the boy w/ its use. Dx potassium chlorate as before, alternating w/ echinacea 1d/4 oz water. Called on McA. twins, breathing much better, throats continue v. inflamed. Rx gargle of potassium chlorate 1d, hydrastine 5 grains, water 4 oz.

Mar. 10 th. Clear & cool, brisk winds. Roads still muddy & waterways overfull, so continued w/ buggy to-day. Much more secure in bad conditions, but I miss the speed of my automobile, as to-day had many calls. To Beermans’ in the valley, neighbors of DeG., where Mrs. B. showing Sx of white diphtheria. Discussed use of serum. She was much concerned of vaccination-syphilis. I assured her all my anti-toxin was approved by the State & that each inoculation was sterile/ boiling needles, etc. After much debate she declined, feeling as an adult she was in less danger than a child. Rx potassium chlorate & echinacea gargle, w/ saline drops. Called on Jan DeG. Pseudomembrane sloughing off w/ much coughing, secretions. Throat v. sore, appetite nil. Rx steaming, nitrate of sanguinary 2x or 3x every hour, cold pack for throat. Called on McAs, twins showing much improvement. Rx continue palliative care for throats. Back to surgery, telephoned Dr. Whittinger in Ft. Henry, who confirmed four cases diphtheria under his care. We agreed to notify the State BOH & to request additional supplies of anti-toxin. Held surgery: McGeough boy sprained wrist. Mrs. S.H. (again!) whose many symptoms I trace to a lack of useful employment of her hours & an inattentive husband. Sent home w/ mild sedative. Mr. McFarland, with gastritis I suspect is inflamed by a habit of taking alcohol. Rx Aconite, 5 drops; Ipecac, 5 drops, into 4 oz water, 1t/hour. Advised on simple diet & no spirits. Home for supper-whitefish in sauce & sponge-cake.

Despite the unattractive recitations of secretions and foul smells, Dr. Stillman’s ready list of meals and desserts set Clare’s stomach rumbling. She put the diary down and went into the kitchen for something sweet. Since, unlike the doctor, she didn’t have a wife at home cooking for her, all she could find was a tin of flaked coconut and a bag of chocolate chips. She ripped the bag open, tossed a handful into her mouth, and went back to the sofa.

March 11 th. Clear and cold. Called on Mrs. B, Jan DeG., McA. twins. The latter show the only improvement, although I suspect J. will pass through the disease unharmed after he expectorates all exudate & hardened membrane. Kept Rx unchanged. Home for dinner. Told Ellen I was sending her & the children to her mother’s house in Ft. Ann. While Charles & Elizabeth have been inoculated with the serum, I have no wish to put it to the test, & I fear there will be more cases of the diphtheria, not fewer. Put them on the 4:00 train. No surgical hours to-day. Telephoned Dr. Whittinger & Dr. McKernon to consult re: advising schools to close for the next few days. Dr. Whittinger volunteered to call the Superintendent with our concerns. At suppertime, was called to Mrs. Kenneth Clow’s for her labor. As this was her eighth child, I scarcely had time to deliver her. Healthy, well-formed girl, 7 lbs 1 oz. I warned Mr. C. of the diphtheria & explained the danger of the contagion in a large family such as his.

March 12 th. Clear & cold. Roads improved much so that I took out my automobile, which proved a mistake, as I was mistaken for a bootlegger traveling home from the Adamses, where I was called for at mid-night. Fearing the diphtheria I brought with me doses of the serum, & found two of the three girls ag’d 11 and 9 w/ poor color, imperfect respiration, occluded & throats & tonsils coated w/ brown exudate. Fever over 103 in both children. I explained the extreme gravity of their condition to the parents, & told them w/o the anti-toxin I would not expect the girls to live out the next 24 hrs. They consented. After inoculation, Rx aconite, 5 drops to 4 oz water and phytolacca, 15-20 drops to 4 oz Water. Also hydrochloric acid 20 to 2 oz simple syrup & 2 oz Water. Driving home I was much startled when confronted by armed men at Powell’s Corners and ordered to stand out of my car. Police officer Harry McN. who knew me well as I have delivered all of his children, apologized at once they recognized me. Bootlegger activity is v. high w/ police on road as a result. Continued home where I slept late this morning. Breakfast Poached eggs and bacon and oatmeal.

Dr. Stillman’s entries for March 12 and 13 were the shortest ones Clare had seen. They simply listed the current diphtheria patients and added two more, Maud Williamson, aged fifteen, and Roland Henke, aged eight. She tried to imagine how much time the doctor must have spent, driving around the countryside at, what, twenty-five miles an hour? And that was when he could use his car. Snow or mud or rain, he evidently went by horse-drawn buggy. No X rays, no penicillin, no anticoagulants or insulin or reliable blood transfusions. Did they even have aspirin back then? It seemed like a different world. And yet there were plenty of people around who had been born into that world. Mrs. Marshall. Mr. Madsen. Mrs. Johnson. Her own grandmother Fergusson had been fifteen when George Stillman wrote these entries. The same age as Maud Williamson.

March 14 th. Light Rain & cold. Called on Mrs. B. Temp. above 102, breathing v. strained & sibilous. Dx bronchitis secondary to sloughing off of exudate into larynx. Rx Veratrum, 20-60 drops in 4 oz Water for fever; directed Mr. B. on use of steam and pounding her back to loosen secretions. Called on Jan DeG., improved, though v. weak. Impressed on Mrs. DeG. importance of complete rest as the toxin may have affected the muscles of his heart. Called on Adamses, where girls are much improved, temp. normal, throats v. sore but respiration eased. Mrs. A. v. emotional and wishing for some way to express gratitude; I asked her to tell her friends and neighbors the importance of timely inoculation. I have become convinced only a steady diet of personal testimony will lead many of my patients to accept the anti-toxin & other inoculants. Called on McA. twins, steady improvement, but warned mother of dangers of too early exertion. Called on Maud W. & Roland H., both unchanged, Rx unchanged. Spoke to Mr. W. and Mr. H. further on benefits of the serum. Mr. H. has heard stories that vaccination causes idiocy! It becomes hard to listen to such ignorance knowing science has the power to alleviate their children’s distress. I am grateful Ellen and the children are gone away. No surgical hours, home early for supper, cold meat pie and chocolate pudding.