A large sore, three inches around, covered the right side
of Arville’s head, above the ear. It
began small, treated by Dr. Lawson from Crossville. When the salves and the scrapings only made it
worse, Mommie and Daddy took him to a specialist in Knoxville.
Despite all treatment the sore became larger and angrier.
The puffy raised pink raised sore was soft to the touch, free of hair. This
dragged on month after month, gradually getting worse. Occasional oozing required a bandage around
the head, which had to be changed at least once a day and on bad days twice or
three times. A new specialist in Knoxville offered only the same salves and a
shaking head.
It was a day warm enough to play on the porch instead of in
the house. Cooped up for several days we enjoyed the freedom of porch play,
freedom from “Don’t run in the house”.
We moved from the porch swing to the steps, from the steps to the
swing, sometimes quietly, sometimes
running wildly across the porch . Arville had his cap gun. We girls had no
weapons. But Diane discovered the broom made a good club. She ran across the
porch swinging her club, hit Arville in
the side of the head. He screamed; Mommie came running. Blood and pus ran from
under Arville’s head bandage. The removed gauze revealed a triangular flap of
skin peeled back from the oozing pus and blood. The oozing finally stopped.
Mommie cleaned and re-bandaged the wound.
Plans to go back to the Knoxville doctor never materialized.
Healing began immediately and proceeded so well no doctor was needed. Until his death Arville had scant hair on the
right side of his head. Mommie wondered why the doctor never thought of lancing
the wound.
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