LILLIAN:  There was just one case where one of the two year olds had meningococcemia, they called it.

KAREN:  In English? 

LILLIAN:  Uh-huh.  Yeah.  That's what it was.  And when the -- I -- I escorted the mother and the baby. 

And when I went back, we had to take antibiotics.  We had to give antibiotics to the rest of the children and to the mother and father, and ourselves, we had to take, because it was contagious.  Just for -- we -- none of us got sick, but just in case, you know.  That was the thing we had to do in that case. 
And this -- this Japanese doctor was one of them assisting there, and when I -- he said, what's wrong with the baby, or the little one?  I said, she's got meningococcemia.  He said, how did you know?  I said, well, I study books.  And that she broke out with purple spots all over her body.  It was that -- I don't know what they call it, but anyway, that was one sign that that's what she had. 

And she was very constipated.  And I tended to that part, got her doing okay, but I had my assistant with me.  And when we did go and take care of, we learned how to use the gloves, you know, so we don't get contaminated, or contaminate them even.

That baby, at the time she was just a baby.  She's a woman now and she's got children.  Every time I see her, I see her as a baby being so very ill. 
And Theresa and I were trying to figure out what happened.  What's wrong with her.  And then we looked in the books and here's a picture of that baby with this sickness in her.  And that was a type of meningitis, I think, huh?  That's what --

KAREN:  I don't know. 

LILLIAN:  I think so. 

KAREN:  Right. 

LILLIAN:  And anyway, that was one time, that was the only incident we had, a real serious incident where we had to take antibiotics, too. 

KAREN:  Well, it sounds like you saved her, though. 

LILLIAN:  Yeah, we did. 

KAREN:  By diagnosing --

LILLIAN:  Uh-hum.  We -- two or three o'clock in the morning, she called because her fever was real high.  And the both of us went there, and she told me -- I don't know exactly --

(Tape change.)

LILLIAN:  -- home and tending to the baby.  And she was dehydrated, for one thing.  That's why she got constipated. 

And by morning, I went down -- I escorted them down, both down to the doctor.  And then I came home the next day.  We would escort and bring -- and come home the next day. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  To be the best thing to do.  I didn't mind escorting patients.  And if we had a friend to stay with -- at the time they didn't have a -- a place to keep health aides, so we had -- I know I had friends that I stayed with. 

KAREN:  This was in Bethel? 

LILLIAN:  Just for the night.  Yeah.  And if you didn't have a place to stay, they would find a room, vacant room for you.  But it was good to have somebody to stay with so you can have a cup of coffee when you wanted to.  Have something to eat.  Yeah.  So...