J.E. "Mac" McVicker

J. E. “Mac” McVicker of Muleshoe, Texas, almost died before his case was correctly assessed. He was diagnosed as a victim of half a dozen problems and lived with MG for thirty years before he was correctly treated. He even had eye surgery, to correct a problem which didn't exist.

The disease left McVicker totally dependent on those around him. It started with a man who was strong and muscular, one who had been a star player on his high school football team, and turned him into an invalid.

While playing golf one Saturday, McVicker kept seeing two golf balls. His family doctor sent the patient to an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed the problem as brain tumor. Not satisfied with that diagnosis, McVicker sought a second opinion from another eye specialist. This time the diagnosis was different, and surgery was performed to shorten the eye muscle.

Still without proper diagnosis or treatment, the symptoms worsened. For more than a year McVicker wore an eye patch over the affected eye. His speech grew steadily worse, finally reaching the point that often he could not be understood.

Gradually, he lost his ability to chew his food. For more than a year his wife put everything he ate through a blender. Even then, he often could not swallow it. when the food could not get past his tight throat muscles, he would regurgitate through the nose. Eventually he lost the ability to take anything into his mouth through a straw and was nourished intravenously.

Doctors were baffled. By then they knew the eye surgery had been unnecessary. The early diagnosis of a brain tumor was considered again, then ruled out. Muscle paralysis became a prime suspect, but tests could not confirm it. At last, McVicker's family physician, who had never seen an MG patient and knew nothing about the disease except what he had found in medical books, diagnosed the problem correctly. It was confirmed by Dr. Tether at the Hale Center clinic.

McVicker had been in remission for over twelve year when he died following a lengthy illness just a few days before the MG clinic in the fall of 2000. Both Mac and his wife Jenne faithfully served the NWTC for many years.

Return to Top