Until Dennis got mastoiditis, my mother was the only person I had ever known who had suffered this problem. She had mastoiditis when she was about 8 years old. Obviously her ear (or ears) were badly infected because she had surgery on her mastoid bone (or bones.) I think she had some hearing loss from it.
In the early 1930's, money was tight. I imagine that Mama got pretty sick, and home remedies were attempted, before she finally saw a doctor. Her mom had passed away recently, and I don't think that Grandpa Harry Sees had remarried yet.
The doctor drove Mama in his car from Gordon, Nebraska, to the Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings, Nebraska, for the surgery. It was a long trip -- over 200 miles -- and it must have been an exhausting and scary experience for a sick little girl. I am not sure how long she had to stay at the hospital, but surely they kept her for a few days.
Mama said that they stopped on the way home and had ice cream. I'm glad she had at least that one happy memory of the whole ordeal.
Infection-fighting antibiotics did not yet exist in the 1930s.
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