The summer of 1971. This is something I hadn't thought about until I saw that Six Flags Over Mid-America (St. Louis) was turning 50 this year. Seeing that brought back quite a few memories from that summer.
I was 10 years old that summer. Just finished 4th grade and would be in 5th grade in the fall. Summer as a 10-year-old should be full of fun and adventures, running with the neighborhood kids, swimming at the pool, just doing whatever a kid wanted to do.
I'm sure that I did all of those things, at least at the beginning of the summer. Not sure exactly when it was that I went with my grandma Ruby to spend a week at the home of my uncle, aunt, and cousins in Grandview, Missouri. My cousin Sheri and I are only 19 days apart in age and were very close as kids. (While we don't always keep in touch as we used to, she is still important to me.)
That week in Grandview was spent doing all the things kids would do. Running, riding bikes, swimming, and just being a kid. So many memories.
After we finished the week there, Grandma and I went back to her house in Wheeling, Missouri and connected with the rest of my family. I remember that we spent quite a few days there while Mom and Dad painted Grandma's house and did other updates for her. While they did that, my siblings and I just did kid stuff which here included a tire swing, climbing trees, and exploring the small town.
Once all of the updates to Grandma's house were completed, the family headed home. I remember while we were driving home that Dad told us that we were going to be going to the brand new amusement park called Six Flags. Of course, the 4 of us kids were excited!
Even though it was 50 years ago, something this monumental should bring forth wonderful memories. Unfortunately, my memories of this occasion and the rest of the year were anything but wonderful.
While we were at the park, riding the rides, eating the food, I remember I began to get a headache. It continued as the day progressed but I really noticed it when I rode the Mine Train roller coaster. The "clank clank clank" as the cars climbed the hills became excruciating. Sometime later, I noticed my feet were hurting. Thinking it was my shoes, I took them off only to realize how swollen they had become. I then couldn't put my shoes back on again.
I don't remember much about the rest of the day except that I don't think I rode any more rides or did much else except follow everyone around the park. I just didn't feel good at all.
Fast forward to a few days to a week later, going to the doctor because the symptoms I had experienced at Six Flags were continuing, and having the doctor tell my parents that I needed to be admitted to the hospital in St. Louis. We had a smaller hospital in the town just 7 miles from us, but we didn't have any specialists locally. My parents were very concerned for me to be in a hospital by myself at 10-years-old, 50 miles away. Thankfully it was decided that I could be admitted to our local hospital (St. Francis) in Washington and that the specialist would be able to come to this hospital to evaluate me.
I believe I was admitted on a Monday and the specialist came to evaluate on Tuesday. I honestly don't remember exactly when it was that a diagnosis was given (I'll talk more about that later). What I do remember is that back in that day, our hospital did not have televisions in all hospital rooms, not that it mattered because we really didn't have many channels back then. But, it would give me something to do during the day and evening for both me and my roommate. My family didn't have a small portable television, but thankfully some family friends did and let me use it. It definitely helped, especially since I had to be in that room and bed for 9 days. I was allowed to walk to the bathroom and back to my bed. No further. It was definitely a difficult time.
Now to the diagnosis...it was determined that I had a disease in my kidneys called Bright's Disease. I don't know how I got it or what caused it. What I do know is that this disease changed my life for 6 months, maybe even longer.
As a result of the diagnosis, there were many things in my life that had to change. One change was that I was not allowed to have any salt AT ALL. Back in the 70's, no salt or low salt foods were difficult to find. As a result, my mom had to find ways to make meals for me that were different than what everyone else ate. No bacon. No ham. Nothing with any salt. One of our family's weekly activities included having popcorn as we watched The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings. Mom had to make my popcorn either plain (yuck) or better yet using no salt butter and sugar. That became a favorite for me.
Even worse than the no salt, was that I was not allowed to do any physical activity. None. My room was on the 2nd floor of our house. I was allowed to go upstairs to go to bed and come downstairs in the morning. I had to sit/lay on a foldout sofa bed in our living room all day. I was allowed to walk to the bathroom and back. That was it. After a while I was allowed to walk out to sit on our porch, but no further. The only time I walked further was to go to the car when we went to the doctor's office, walk into and out of the office, back to the car, and back into the house. This was the middle of July and I was 10.
In addition to no salt and no activity, I took an extremely high dose of penicillin daily. An extremely high dose.
As the weeks progressed and it came closer to going back to school, there were questions about whether or not I would even be able to go to school. I was going to be in 5th grade. All of the 5th grade classes were on the top floor of our school. But of course there would be walking to go to art, music, PE, lunch, recess, the library, you name it.
My dad worked for Southwestern Bell, I remember my parents talking about the possibility of doing "remote learning" long before that was even a thing. Apparently Bell was going to help if that was necessary. Fortunately, I was cleared to go to school, but with a few restrictions; I couldn't play at recess (I couldn't even walk outside at first) and I couldn't participate in PE. For recess, I had to just sit in the classroom and usually read a book. I remember there was another girl who had had a broken leg and wasn't allowed to go outside either. She and I became friends and would often play games during recess time. Eventually we both were cleared to at least walk around the playground during recess time.
This was my life from sometime in June until my 11th birthday in December. During these 6 months, I had many doctor appointments to check and see if the infection in my kidneys was still there. I don't remember how often I had these appointments, but I do remember the final one. My doctor, James Shea, walked into the room where I was waiting and he told me that from that day forward I was able to eat anything I wanted and I could do anything I wanted; run, jump, ride my bike, ANYTHING!! That was probably the happiest day of my life!! I remember the first thing I asked my mom to make for me...BACON!
I honestly don't remember if my taste for some things changed during this time, but I do know that I prefer salty foods over sweet foods. Not super salty, but salty.
When I went back to school after that appointment, I was able to actually play at recess and participate in PE. And, I was able to go back to playing with all of the kids in my neighborhood. Until this time, they would have to come to the house and just sit and play games or whatever we could do while sitting.
As I grew up, I kind of forgot about having this disease until I was taking college classes to become a teacher. I had to take an Art for Children class in which we had to research an artist. I chose Mary Cassatt, an American artist. As I researched her, I found that she had a sister, Lydia, who died from Bright's Disease in 1882. I was shocked. Could I have died from this disease? Possibly, if I had lived in the 1800's. Thankfully I lived in the 1900's and had access to strong medicine.
Over the past 50 years, I have thought about this time in my life only occasionally. It wasn't until I saw that Six Flags was celebrating it's 50th anniversary that the memories came flooding back in. There are many things to be thankful for; a specialist who found the cause of my illness, a great doctor who took over my treatment, a mom who had to create 2 different meals to accommodate my dietary restrictions, friends who would come and sit with me, family friends who loaned us the television to watch while in the hospital, and friends and relatives who sent cards to me for months. You never know what can happen to you at any time...
