Home At Last
On August 19, 1956 I was discharged from
Cresson TB Sanatorium with doctor's consent. On that day my family and I made the return trip from Cresson to Towanda.
As you can imagine, the mood during that trip was much happier than the trip to Cresson we made sixteen months earlier.
Trouble In Paradise
You would think I would have been in heaven that first month back home sleeping
in my own bed and eating my mom's cooking, but in fact I was miserable because a medical problem I thought was a thing of
the past resurfaced. As a young teenager I had bouts with asthma, especially in the Fall when the leaves were
changing. During the sixteen months at Cresson I had not had a single asthma attack and therefore assumed
I had outgrown it. But as soon as I returned home in the fall of 1956, my asthma came
back with a vengeance.
It was like one continuous month-long attack. It was worse at night so that I couldn't
get a good night's sleep. My folks and I were afraid that my lack of sleep and the strain on my lungs due to my labored
breathing might weaken my system sufficiently to allow the TB to reactivate. We were just about at the point of
contacting the Cresson TB Sanatorium to request that I be readmitted until I could somehow get the problem under
control.
Then, just by chance, I saw an ad in a magazine for something called "Breath-Easy" that
was touted as a new medicine which relieved asthma symptoms. It was something entirely new and even my family
doctor had not heard of it. It was basically my last resort before going back to the san, so my folks sent for it by
mail.
It consisted of a weird one-piece glass apparatus which had a round body with a tube
at the top. A rubber squeeze bulb was attached at the bottom. It came with a bottle of liquid medicine,
some of which was poured down through the top tube and into the main body. The medicine was administered
by pointing the tube at your open mouth and squeezing the rubber bulb while simultaneous breathing in.
These actions sent a fine mist of the medicine into your mouth and down the bronchial tubes.
The medicine arrived in the afternoon mail and I tried it that night. I inhaled two
good doses of the mist and waited to see the results. To my utter amazement, I was breathing normally in less than a
minute! It seemed like an absolute miracle at the time. The effects of the medicine lasted about four hours,
at which time I could feel my airways closing up again. But a single dose soon had them open again. That night
I was finally able to get a good night's sleep. I told my folks the next day that they could forget about sending me back
to the san. I didn't realize it at the time, but "Breathe-Easy" was one of the first forms of inhalers, which are still
used by asthma sufferers today.
(Note: During a recent phone conversation, my sister Barb gave me a clue as to the source
of my asthma problem described above. The house we lived in at the time had been built in 1900 and had old fashioned
lathe and plaster wall construction. The house was subsequently sold and the new owner discovered during renovations
that horse hair was used in the plaster as a binding material. I was known to be allergic to dog and cat hair and probably
horse hair as well. It's very likely that this was the source of my asthma attacks.)
"Movies 'Til Dawn", Literally
Once the asthma problem was solved, I got into a weird routine, which was probably a rebellion
against the strict regimentation at the san. I would stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning watching "movies 'til dawn"
on TV, then go to bed and sleep until noon. My dad always came home for lunch, so I would drive him back to work,
drop him off, drive around the countryside the rest of the afternoon and pick him up at 5 pm and take him home.
My folks never complained about this, no doubt thinking that if this was my worst reaction to sixteen months of confinement,
it was OK with them. Besides, gas was only 25 cents a gallon then!
Back To High School
The san doctors, who knew that I was planning to attend college, recommended
that I take one year off before starting what can be a grueling process. During that year I continued my medications,
had periodic x-rays and received monthly refills of "air" at the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa.
So, once again, I found myself with another twelve months wait on my hands. The first thing
I did was to petition the Towanda High School principal to be allowed to monitor senior math and science courses. I
was concerned that these skills would deteriorate if I didn't exercise them for a year. The principal agreed and I monitored
classes three days a week during the 1956-57 school year.
It actually worked out well that I postponed college for a year. Within that year I developed
a hernia that required surgery to repair. It was thought that the "air" that I had been receiving for almost two and
a half years had caused a weakness in the stomach area resulting in a hernia. So it was just as well the hernia
was corrected early, as it would have necessitated my dropping out of college to correct it.
Penn State
The fact that I had TB qualified me for the State Rehabilitation Program.
I drove to Harrisburg, took a 6 hour test which I passed and received a scholarship to Penn State. I started college
in the Fall of 1957, attending my first three semesters at the satellite campus at Hazleton, Pa. before attending the
main campus at State College. It took me 5 years to graduate with a BS in Engineering Mechanics as I was not allowed
to take a full load of credits my first year. That, combined with the time lost due to TB, meant that I was
24 when I graduated from PSU in 1962. But as they say, "better late than never". It led to a 38 year career
in aerospace engineering in Long Beach, Ca.
Epilog Well,
that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I consider myself very fortunate that I made a full recovery and that
TB has not been a health problem since my discharge in 1956. Of course, my recovery was facilitated by the doctors,
nurses, orderlies and all the san employees who labored to give me such great care which made my recovery possible.
I have had the privilege of talking by phone and meeting in person at the 2011 reunion with a few of the nurses who
took care of me in 1955-56. It has been most gratifying to be able to thank them personally for their efforts on my
behalf. Most of the people I would like to thank are no longer with us, so this website will have to serve as my
tribute to them. "Well Done" to all of you.
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