In the interest of reusing, I often drag out a box of old cards that were my grandmother’s. I cut out images or words from the old cards and recreate new cards for Valentine’s Day. Mostly the cards are just signed, but today I ran across one that included a letter that seemed especially timely.
My grandmother lived, by force of state law, in the tuberculosis sanitorium in Mt. Vernon, Missouri for, I think, about 18 months. She had 3 young daughters at the time. My grandfather moved his three daughters and himself to Mt. Vernon to be close to my grandmother. He left the family farm and moved across the state with 3 girls in tow.
The card writer, Aurelia, begins, "Hope you are well. I spent 4 days in bed and I mean bed. I had a terrible head cold. I sure was worried and afraid it would go to my chest. I never coughed once. Feel better now." She’s talking about TB. She was worried about getting it.
I didn't know who Aurelia was and assumed it was a cousin or relative. When I posted parts of this to Facebook, I got a message from a friend of mine. Her grandmother was at the sanitorium, and her name was Aurelia. All the other details matched as well. I was just thrilled to learn that I'm friends with the granddaughter of a woman my grandmother was friend's with at the sanatorium. Like grandma's story, hers is a story of relatives stepping in to take care of small children.
Then she asks, "Have you had your Xray lately? Wasn't you due? Hope you make exercise soon." My grandmother’s birthday was in September, and a later mention of Warrensburg dates the card to the year 1953. My grandmother would have been a resident at the sanitorium then.
The card writer then refers to another person, S. Murdock, who had made exercise and a third person, Clara, who had not. "I'm sure thrilled about S. Murdock making exercise. Too bad Clara didn't make it. Hope she makes it next time." This seems to be a reference to recovering through 'rest and nutrition' enough that you could start exercising.
By the time my grandmother was a resident, there were a couple of drugs commonly used against TB. Streptomycin was discovered in 1943, but there were some mean side effects and some TB strains were resistant. Streptomycin was developed by isolating a bacterium that grows in soil, Streptomyces griseus. This bacteria forms filaments in the soil that break down organic matter. While you can’t see this bacterium, you can smell it. It smells like good dirt, earthy.
Plus, isoniazid was being used against TB. It’s a synthetic drug produced from isonicotinic acid, and it was widely used. However, an isoniazid resistant strain of TB grew as well. Plus, one of the most common side effects was neuropathy, tingling and numbness.
I don’t know which drugs were given to my grandmother.
The letter then goes on to say, "Polio is really getting bad. Warrensburg College closed. No cases in Stover yet but 6 cases in Versailles where Arnold works." In 1953, the city of Warrensburg had a serious outbreak of polio that resulted in the issuance of a sewer bond for the construction of a sanitary sewer system. Plus, there’s a state college there.
The polio vaccine was invented in 1955. There’s still no drug treatment that will cure the disease once you have it.
She ends with "Hope you have a nice birthday."
Every bit of news in the letter was concerned with two diseases, tuberculosis, and polio. I've never had to worry about or suffer from either. Not sure this will be a true statement for my kids.
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