Tag Archives: treatment

September 30, 1924

Jacksonville Fla
Sept 30 1924

My Dear Ina,

Was glad to get your letter and to know that you were feeling fine.

I have just received a letter from Mr. Bishopp to the effect that Dr. White is having so much to do that he will not be able to section the material I have sent him. The plan is to have me go to Washington about the 5th of Oct for a period of about two weeks so that I can do the work myself. I am glad to have the opportunity of working with Dr. White and also of doing my own work, as I have felt a need for a little more training and experience on this particular thing. I am very glad to go and I am very sorry that I can’t be in Uvalde, but as you suggested I guess all things work out to the best advantage.

September 30, 1924

September 30, 1924

I understand that Dr. Roark is in Dallas now and no doubt there will be a couple to come to Uvalde with him. I can hardly understand how Mr. Parman can take a vacation if they come down there, but I presume they have arranged something.

I have quite a few cases under my own experimental treatments and also have an opportunity of seeing quite a number whom Dr. Kirby-Smith is treating at his office. If work continues like this, I may not get away for quite a while. They keep me going just now. I locked my door so as to write you, for I know that otherwise I would only get started on the letter and would have to leave it, and probably would not get to it again for a day or so.

Have just had a call from one of the schools here that a number of the kids are infested. Will try and look them over tomorrow, and I am in hope that some new chemicals will get here by that time so that I can try them out there.

The ones I am treating are the ones who feel that they can’t afford to go to Dr. K.S. office, and I am utilizing this opportunity to test some new treatments. We have an effective treatment for cases when they are newly infected, but after the cases become old and resistant it is not so effective. Am trying others for these cases, as so many who go to the Doctors are old cases and quite difficult to treat.

Excuse the brief letter, Dear, but I must go. Have a man who can’t get down here or even get out of bed, and we are going out to see him. Has several hundred on his limbs and arms. Plumber by trade and hasn’t slept for a week.

With love,
Walter.

August 13, 1924

Jacksonville, Fla.
Aug 13, 1924

My Dear Ina,

Yours came this morning and it did me a world of good all day. I am by myself for a few days, as Dr. K.S. went to Tenn. for a little visit with the family. The dope I have been getting during the past two days tends to increase the possibilities in this investigation, and you can imagine what the effect is. Just about the time it looked as though I had the dope on the origin of cases, I get records of cases occurring away from where any one lives. It makes one feel that he don’t know so much about it after all. This usually happens on a problem study, and it takes a nice letter from a little girl just like you to make everything seem rosy. I always enjoy your letters so much, and it seems that I’ve known you always.

August 13, 1924

August 13, 1924

I, too, wish that I could have been with you at the “shut in.” I’ve got something to tell you when I see you.

I often look at the Kodak pictures and I would like very much to borrow your negatives for two of them. One of yourself sitting on the ground and the other a standing profile with your left hand near your waist line, palm out. Can you figure out which two? If not, send as many as you like and I’ll pick out the two I would like to borrow. These two would enlarge to a 5×7 inch size very nicely and as the photo man here is unusually good I’d like to have him make them for me. Will have him make an extra for yourself and your mother. I hope you can find them for I really want them and will be looking for them in your next letter. Please.

It was too bad about your friend’s accident, and I am sorry for him. It might have been his fiance.

I am certainly in hopes that I can see you next month and it is possible that I’ll be there. I’ll know when Mr. Bishopp comes down. There has been no allotment or appropriation for this work and it is possible that he will not care to divert other money for this purpose. We had in mind to determine the scope of the field of work and having found that it came within the domain of our Bureau, to ask for special funds next year. We do not yet know whether the project should be ours or not, but we hope to know before long. On the face of it, it would naturally seem to be our field, but we may find that it logically falls under some other Bureau’s work. It may be a co-operative project with some other Bureau, but I hope not for that simply means dividing the credit for the work with some one else. Dr. K.S. says he “don’t give a damn” if some other Bureau is supposed to do it, he wants me here, and if necessary will go thru his senator to have me attached to the Bureau under whose domain the work naturally falls. He says we can work it out and that we won’t need any other assistance.

It is really an important problem and every one who knows the disease is anxious to help in any way possible. Lots of them have spent more than a hundred dollars for treatments which were only partly satisfactory. Several months have been required in some cases. The thing is absolutely new in literature as there has been nothing published to give the least idea of the cause.

I do not work with a fear of getting the creeping eruption, for our treatment is so effective and simple that I can use it as a preventive. In fact the treatment is too simple to be profitable to the medical profession.

I hope to have a nice long letter from you soon, Dear, if I may call you this.

Kind regards to all, I am,

Sincerely
Walter.

August 11, 1924

Monday Nite Aug 11th

My Dear Ina,

It was mighty fine to get your letter and you are so sweet to write nice ones. They are always cheerful and make me feel that I am real fortunate to have such a nice little girl friend.

August 11, 1924

August 11, 1924

My work has been keeping me on the go and about the only thing I have stopped for, was to eat and sleep. My colleague, Dr. K.S., left me Saturday, and will be gone most of this week. He went to Tennessee to spend a few days with the family. I am enjoying his vacation too, for I do have a breathing spell once in a while now, though I keep on the go. He is about the most energetic man I ever met and while it is a real pleasure to work with him, he goes about twice as fast as anyone else. He wanted me to send a night letter every night about the work, but I finally convinced him that every two nights should be sufficient.

Most of the cases of “larval Migrans” come from the beach and since the clinic I have been making an intensive study of conditions in the city where cases have been known to originate. I am doing this in connection with a final check on the treatments given at the clinic. It occurred to me that there was certainly some environments in the city which existed at the beach and my idea was to make a careful survey of both. Sunday I went down to Pablo early and worked most all day, though there are lots of things to be studied down there.

This may seem peculiar, but the parasite is so small that we have not been able to isolate it or identify it. It then behooves us to see under what conditions it develops and then try to strike upon the right thing and to produce the disease artificially. I shipped Mr. Bishopp about 50 sections of skin containing the parasites, and he is trying to locate them while in Washington. He is surrounded with specialists of all kinds and with the facilities there, he would stand a better chance to isolate them than I would at work here. At any event he will not be able to determine just what parasite is responsible for the disease, but can tell in a general way to what group it belongs. It will still be up to me to locate the proper one and with Dr. K.S. to produce the disease artificially. We may be able to do this before he finishes with that part, but if possible we would like to work it out both ways. Dr. K.S. believes that he and I will be the ones to locate and prove it, though he has worked at it for 14 years.

It is no small task, but I believe we will work it out OK. Dr. K.S. says it may take a couple of years but he intends to stay with it if it costs him everything. We have worked out an excellent treatment, but until we know what the thing is and where it develops we will not be able to do much in preventing infestations. We can’t hope to solve everything at once, for it is entirely new. There is absolutely nothing in literature regarding the cause of this malady. It may be quite a simple thing when we hit it and again it may be very complicated.

It is about 11 o’clock so guess I’d better say goodnight.

Kindest regards to all and very best for yourself,

Always
Walter

500 Professional Bldg
c/o Dr. K.S.

August 6, 1924

153 Powell Place, Jacksonville, Florida

Wednesday A.M.

My Dear Ina,

I received your very nice letter a few minutes ago and believe me I was glad to hear from you. I had become worried and thought that possibly I would not hear from you again. It is so easy to have a misunderstanding in writing, and I am mighty glad that you have some patience with my crude way of doing things. I knew that I should have written you a nice letter and a long one, but jumped at a chance of utilizing a minute’s time in writing at least a line. I am sorry, Dear, for I know the circumstances under which you received it and it must have made you feel badly. However, I am mighty glad to know that you cared enough to have it affect you, though I would not have intentionally used such means to find out.

August 6, 1924

August 6, 1924

The clinic was a success and we have developed a very satisfactory treatment, even though we have not yet been able to unravel the identity of the parasite. It is a microscopic form, either a small worm or a spirochete and not an insect as we supposed. Such a form has never been reported in medical or entomological literature so it gives one nothing to start with.

Expect to begin tomorrow on a survey of conditions where the cases originated and will either have a city sanitary inspector or a trained nurse to go with me. I’d have a time locating all these street addresses in a strange city, though I have already made up a city map showing the locations.

Will enclose a questionnaire & form letter we are sending all physicians of the county. The composition is mine.

I haven’t been with anyone except on business and have been busy every evening until we went to sleep, with the exception of a couple of trips to the beach. These were of a survey nature as so many become infested down there.

Last Sunday we drove to Waldo about 130 miles to see a physician who had several hundred lesions. We had treated him here a few days before. Have had an invitation to come down & spend a while fishing, but I don’t think I would be very happy unless you could be there too. I always wish for you. I can’t help it and you might as well know it. I think lots more of you than you think I do, and I certainly hope that I can see you again in September. It looks doubtful now but we live in hopes. Expect to see you Xmas anyhow as you promised me I could.

My Sis has a mighty fine fiance and I can’t see any reason why they won’t be congenial & get along OK. In all probability he will be cashier of his bank on Jan 1st. My mother doesn’t like to part with Sis, but I told her she would simply get another son. She doesn’t see it this way. I guess every mother feels the same way.

You have had lots of excitement in Uvalde and I hope everything is quiet and to your liking by now. Sorry that your boss was not re-elected but strange things happen in politics.

Remember that I love you and I am anxious to see you again.

Always,
Walter.

Enclosed form letter and questionnaire:

Larva Migrans Form Letter

Larva Migrans Form Letter

Larva Migrans Questionnaire

Larva Migrans Questionnaire

July 31, 1924

153 Powell Place
Jacksonville, Florida

July 31, 1924

Dear Ina,

I have a few minutes to write a note and feel that I owe you a lengthy letter, but what I lack in length perhaps I can make up in numbers. For I certainly don’t want you to misunderstand me. I have thought of you just the same and I have wondered if I am going to get through early enough to be in Uvalde this Fall. I certainly won’t complete the work, but may return because there has been no appropriation for this work. It will probably require work for a few years and I imagine the bulk of the work will be done when we have special money for it. At this stage of the game we cannot say that it falls under the domain of our Bureau, but I hope that I can finish it. The importance is greater than it might seem.

July 31, 1924

July 31, 1924

We are using a treatment which Dr. Roark suggested with good results and it simplifies matters. Previously it has required sometimes as long as a year in extreme cases. Lots of the treatments have been so drastic that they were worse than the malady.

Mr. Bishopp will return from Washington about the 24th and will stop with me for a few days. I also expect Dr. Hunter to spend a day or two with me on his way to Washington, which will probably be about the 15th.

I want you to know that while I am busy, I think of you lots and wish for you. I can’t help but believe you would enjoy it very much if you were here. It is so different, so beautiful, and much cooler than the weather we had at Uvalde.

Kindly remember me to your Mother, Sis & Dad and write me a nice long letter. Please?

Sincerely,

W.E.D.
500 Professional Bld.