Margy

Margy White was a young lady when she served Barry Goldwater who helped politicians in states other than Arizona because he hoped to be the Republican President someday. Everything Margy said about Goldwater was a compliment to his spirit and personality. She was his secretary and his driver when he visited Montana.

I met her when she came to the pool for therapy. Margy volunteered to try the treatments I was experimenting with, and at first Margy was apprehensive of me. She was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis and severe arthritis. She was obese, and paralyzed from the chest down. Her hands shook causing her cigarette lighter to blew out. I lifted her from the wheelchair and put her supine lying on her back on the treatment table.

She had no muscle or tendon reflexes in her legs. Her lower extremities flopped around like wooden puppet legs. I palpated with my fingers and discovered she had muscle tenderness in her entire spine. A lady osteopath at Long Beach Veterans Hospital had taught me something about physical therapy. She specialized in back and neck pain relief and had a fine reputation. As part of my internship training, she was very kind to let me place my hands over or under her hands while she gave treatments to people at the Veterans' Hospital. Treating Margy, I used that knowledge, and within a few weeks Margy was having abnormal reflexes in her legs. Abnormal reflexes are better than no reflexes, so we were encouraged. Soon she was able to tolerate the muscle reeducation program better, stopped shaking so much, and gained active use of more muscles. The soreness close to her spine was less tender. After I started my own business she asked if I would treat her at her home. She taught oil painting classes to women in her neighborhood, so I traded therapy for art lessons.

She was treated three times a week for almost a year and she learned to walk with crutches. Eventually she used only one crutch, and I stopped seeing her. About a year later she had a relapse after getting a bad cold. I treated her for two months until she felt strong again.

Several years later I went to a wedding, and Margy was in charge of the whole affair. She did the flowers, food, and everything. She was in business for herself.