Doctors and Medical Care

During my early days in Gowrie there were two doctors — Erickson and Lundvick. I think my parents used the services of Lundvick at first but at the birth of one of the older children my mother was disenchanted by his lack of attention or competence and may have reverted to Erickson. Rumor had it that Lundvick was addicted to the use of alcohol, although those were Prohibition days and I don’t know where his supply would have been. [I recently read an excellent account of Prohibition — “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” by Daniel Okrent. In it, he discusses the various loopholes by which people could acquire alcohol. One loophole allowed doctors to prescribe “medicinal” alcohol. —LRS]

Erickson was no prize either. He was quite old and had lost whatever competence he might have once had over the years. During the period in the late 1930s and early 1940s when my aunt Ruth was ill with whatever ailed her (it was never clear to me what she had but I suspect it was some sort of inoperable cancer), she either went to Dr. Waddell in Paton or to a doctor in Fort Dodge. I recall driving her to both places, using uncle Carl’s old blue Essex.

At one time when my grandmother was having her gall bladder trouble, the family first called on old Dr. Erickson to diagnose her difficulty but when it became obvious that he did not know what was going on and my grandmother’s condition was getting worse, someone in the family called Dr. Waddell and when he came to the house (doctors made house calls as a rather usual thing in those days) he immediately recognized the symptoms and ordered her to Fort Dodge for immediate surgery.

When Verner was born there were complications and Dr. Studebaker came from Fort Dodge to Gowrie to assist in the birth. I don’t know how he was selected. In the birth it was necessary for one of Verner’s legs to be broken and I dimly recall seeing the cast. I certainly recall the actual day — the most vivid recollection though is of Studebaker’s car which was a rather grand one in my child’s eyes. Perhaps because of my mother’s difficulties with the birth of Verner she went to the hospital when Marold was born. I think there was a surgery associated with the birth — perhaps she had her tubes “tied” but that is pure speculation on my part.

Marold was the only one of the children born in a hospital, all the other five children were born at home. Again I have some recollection of the birth, this time it is the recalling of a trip to Fort Dodge to the hospital. But I can only remember sitting in the car outside the hospital, not being inside to see either my mother or Marold. At that time there was only the one hospital in Fort Dodge, the Mercy hospital operated by the Catholic church. The Lutheran hospital was constructed sometime in the early 1930s and currently the two hospitals are under some kind of coordinated management.

My uncle Carl at the time the Lutheran hospital was built made a large enough contribution so that he was entitled to have the use of the hospital any time in his lifetime. He took advantage of this when he decided to have his hemorrhoids taken care of, I am told.