Melba "Bandy" Masters 1916-1961

Mrs. Everett Masters of Cotton Center, story starts shortly after the end of WWII. Every muscle in her once-vibrant young body began to lose strength. Periodically the muscles became almost totally useless. Then, within a few hours, she would feel and act normal again. Until her problem began she had been an active and hard working wife and mother, keeping her hands full with church work, as well as caring for her children and working hard on the farm.

Her busy schedule never had taxed her strength, but now her body was playing incredible tricks on her. She had trouble lifting even light weight objects. She was constantly drained of strength. When she lay down, she couldn't even lift her head from the pillow. She could hold her eyes open only about half way. She had trouble swallowing her food. Sometimes she even had difficulty breathing.

Finally, after visits to several hospitals, her progressively weaker state was tied to the relatively unknown myasthenia gravis. Several of the country's leading physicians, including those at Scott & White Hospital at Temple, Texas, and the John Sealy Hospital at Galveston, gave the same prognosis.

She was in the third and final stage of the disease which affected her respiratory system, and she could not live than another six months. Shocked with the news, Mr. & Mrs. Masters returned home to make the most of the next half-year. They found a new doctor at Hi Plains Hospital, Dr. D. R. Foster, who began to constantly pursue new knowledge of the disease. Finally, he sent Mrs. Masters to Dr. Tether at Indianapolis. The Indiana doctor's management of his Texas patient brought great improvement and a lengthened life. On February 16, 1961, myasthenia gravis finally claimed Mrs. Masters, ten years after her doctors gave her six months to live.

Note:  This story was taken from one of the many articles published in a local newspaper announcing an upcoming "Melba Masters Memorial Clinic" to be held in Hale Center, Texas.  Melba and her husband, Everett, were instrumental in the founding of the Northwest Texas Chapter.  This memorial clinic was established by her husband to bring MG diagnosis and treatment closer to home for other MG patients in the Chapter area.   Everett Masters wrote an 11-page article titled "Melba's Story" that can be found under Our History.  You will be blessed by taking the time to read this entire narrative of Melba's struggle during the 1940's and 1950's that finally led to her diagnosis of MG and the early treatment and management of this rare disorder. 

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