Time to Close

              The Shreveport Times
Sunday
September 5, 1976
Lifestyle of The Times
Section E
Page 19
Health/Medicine |
Church
Fashion
Travel
Time
to
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By Anne Scarborough
Times Lifestyle Writer
One of the most rewarding ex-periences
for a pediatrician is for a
child to put his arms around his neck
after he's finished.
Dr. Robert T. Lucas and Dr.
Clarence H. Webb have had many
such experiences. They have been in
practice together since 1931 and in The
Children's Clinic at 1560 Line Avenue
since 1938.
Sept. 1 that ail ends. The office is
closing and the two doctors are retir-ing
— from the clinic.
Dr. Lucas at 86 is one of the oldest
practicing doctors in the state. He
graduated from Tulane University
School of Medicine and has been a
working pediatrician for 58 years. He
is from Charlotte, N.C. and was
headed for a position at Colorado Spr-ings,
Colo., when he stopped in
Shreveport and decided to stay. He's
been here since 1921.
Dr. Lucas' father had been a doctor
but he died when Dr. Lucas was three.
As he grew up, Dr. Lucas believed
that doctors knew and could do ever-ything.
It wasn't until he got to college
and saw others whom he thought were
no more capable than himself, that he
decided he too could be a doctor.
Dr. Webb, 74, also graduated from
Tulane Medical School. He was not
sure just what he wanted to do at that
point so he went into the practice of
general medicine in Elysian Fields,
Tex., near Marshall. When his first
child was born Dr. Webb decided to
become a pediatrician.
He was born in Shreveport and grew
up in the country nearby on Webb
Plantation.
"It's just a coincidence that he
comes from Lucas, out near the
Flournoy-Lucas road," Dr. Lucas said
of his partner.
Sons Are Doctors
Each of the doctors has a son who is
a doctor. Dr. Lucas' son Ted is a
pediatrician in Charlotte, N.C. and Dr.
Webb's son Clarence is an
anesthesiologist at Jackson, Miss.
Dr. Webb will not be retiring entire-ly.
He will work three days a week
with a clinic at the Caddo Parish
Health Department and at the LSU
School of Medicine in Shreveport.
Dr. Lucas will also help with the dis-abled
children's clinic at the Caddo
Parish Health Department two days a
month.
"I'm going to try to be a useful
citizen and a good neighbor," he said
with a smile.
Over the years both of the doctors
have labored under this philosophy.
They have both served as president of
the Louisiana Pediatrics Society,
Shreveport Pediatrics Society and the
Shreveport Medical Society. Both Dr.
Lucas and Dr. Webb received the
award for outstanding medical
service. Dr. Lucas was on the
Louisiana Board of Medical Ex-aminers
for 20 years and Dr. Webb
was president of the Academy of
Pediatrics.
Known Dr. Spock
Dr. Webb has known Dr. Benjamin
Spock and recommended his book over
the years. "I don't agree with the
amount of permissiveness but it's
generally very good," he said, adding,
"Frankly, I'm sad he got into
politics."
As president of the national
academy in 1962-63, Dr. Webb traveled
in the Latin American countries and is
an honorary member of the Society of
Pediatrics in Chile and Argentina.
In their years of practice the doctors
have treated 60,000' families at the
clinic. They have seen two and three
generations of many families and are
well into the third generation, they
said during an interview in Dr. Webb's
office at the clinic.
This clinic was once the only
children's clinic in the area and it is
filled with raised iron baby beds paint-ed
white that now qualify as
heirlooms, rocking chairs for little
ones and even tinier chairs for tod-dlers
to sit upon.
As one enters the door into the
divided rooms where the doctors see
each patient, one walks down a hall
covered by a wall of mirrors.
One toddler-size faded green rocking
chair, very worn in the extremities, is
a veteran, having been in the clinic
since it opened. "It is shaking to
pieces and loose in the joints just like
we are," Dr. Webb joked. "Many of
other patients still like it even if they
are too big to sit in it."
All the furniture in the clinic has
been spoken for, said Dr. Webb. Pa-tients,
members of the families, and
other doctors and professional people
have asked for everything from cots to
microscopes.
In the later years of practice, pa-tients
have regarded the doctors as
grandfathers and that's made things
easier because everybody likes their
grandfathers, the doctors agree.
"Treating children is very
worthwhile, said Dr. Webb. "They are
young and growing and have their
whole life in front of them and you
can do more for them."
"They grow so quickly and are
always changing and that's the
Mrs. Willie Barlow (left) and Mrs. Rupert Campbell pore over some of
the office books at The Children's Clinic.
challenge," Dr. Webb added.
"I'm not wedded to any one age
group," Dr. Lucas said. "But little
babies . . . maybe they make you feel
more personable."
"Anyone who has been in practice
any length of time accumulates
teenagers. I graduate them when they
go to college or when they get mar-ried,"
said Dr. Webb, "and some still
don't want to change."
Over the years the doctors have
been together, the diseases they have
treated have changed.
"We used to treat malaria," Dr.
Webb said.
"And typhoid fever," Dr. Lucas
said. "We haven't seen a case of
typhoid fever in five years," Dr. Webb
said.
"We saw dipththeria," Dr. Webb
said. Dr. Lucas doesn't remember see-ing
a diphtheria case in 15 years. He
once did a paper, noting he averaged
30 cases in a season or 12-month
period.
' Acute diarrhea and dehydration
were other diseases, Dr. Webb said.
Disease Control
Air conditioning, safe water and
food, control of flies and general im-provements
in sanitation has helped in
the control of these diseases, the dee-tors
said.
Other common diseases in their ear-ly
years of practice were rickets,
measles, mumps — Dr. Lucas hasn't
seen a case in three or four years —
pellagra, tuberculosis and polio.
In the '30s Dr. Lucas remembers
treating children for scurvy. A bottle
of orange juice sometimes caused re-sults
so quickly that one mother called
in the middle of the night to ask why
her baby was sleeping all night.
Today the doctors see more
respiratory diseases due to changes in
the seasons, bad winter colds, ear in-fections,
bronchitis, pneumonia, strep
throat and sore throats as well as
more intestinal flu and summer
viruses.
There are more different types of in-gestions
of poisons and more sprays
and powders to cause skin irritations.
The have seen a few but not many
cases of patients being involved with
glue sniffing and marijuana. "Not
heroin or hard narcotics, thank God,"
Dr. Webb said.
He councils his patients by telling
them he is thinking about their health,
their future and their development.
"When a person starts being interest-ed
in drugs, he loses interest in school
and other things," Dr. Webb said.
"Most of these patients have just tried
these things and dropped them," Dr.
Webb said.
When Dr. Lucas talks to a patient he
tells them that "this is between you
and me and mother can listen." He
believes this approach goes over bet-ter.
"Children of today are healthier but
life is not as simple. There are lots of
pressures," Dr. Webb said.
Vaccines have reduced or limited
many diseases, Dr. Lucas said.
Children of the past-Sputnik age
sometimes have ulcers. "Until the
past 15 years I can't remember ever
treating a child for an ulcer," Dr.
Lucas said.
Children of today are more often
very badly hurt in automobile acci-dents.
They are also larger and taller.
"You didn't see many men over six
feet but nowadays every high school
basketball team has one and maybe
even one over 7-feet," Dr. Webb said.
This is due to less illness in early
childhood and better food, he believes.
There have been many nights with
only a few hours of sleep and some
totally sleepless nights over the years.
Dr. Lucas remembers two or three
such nights . . . "but you couldn't
keep that pace up."
During the polio epidemic in the ear-ly
1950s, Dr. Webb remembers many
sleepless nights but those were acute
emergencies.
It was during World War II that the
partners stopped making house calls.
"There were only four pediatricians in
Shreveport and we physically couldn't
keep up the pace of taking care of
Tender Care
Dr. Robert T. Lucas (center) and Dr. Clarence H.
Webb treat their patient, Margaret Frantz, with
tender loving care. The doctors have shared a
lifelong interest in children as well as a pediatric
medical practice at The Children's Clinic. The clinic
closed Sept. 1. (Times Photos by Langston|
McEachern)
Tiny Worn Rocker
children and house," Dr. Webb said.
After the war people realized that
roads were better and it didn't hurt a
child to be brought out in a car and
that the doctors could do a better job
at the clinic or hospital, Dr. Webb
said.
But before then the two doctors
roamed through every street and back
alley in town and 25 miles out, Dr.
Lucas said.
"During the '20s and '30s, up to 1935
and 1940, people didn't bring their
children to a pediatrician unless they
were sick," Dr. Webb said.
Both of the doctors have been paid
in all sorts of items but they agreed
this practice was more prevalent in
smaller towns.
The father of a patient of Dr.
Webb's once gave him a 12-gauge
shotgun that became the doctor's
favorite. Dr. Lucas often receives
vegetables — not as payment but just
something someone thought he would
like.
"We took care of the children and
we knew the parents would take care
of the bills when they could" Dr.
Webb said. The two old gentlemen
were never inclined to sue or pressure
for payment.
"One thing though," said Dr. Lucas.
"If a patient makes an appointment,
he should fulfill it and be on time. The
Iron Baby Bed at the Clinic Now Holds Memories
time is saved for him unless there is a
real emergency."
Drs. Lucas and Webb worked on the
appointment system and try never to
allow patients to wait more than 30
minutes.
"If you like the system of appoint-ments
you need to keep them — or let
the doctor know," Dr. Lucas con-tinued.
Looking over their careers, Dr.
Webb said he is regretful of the times
he was so tired or bothered that he got
short or angry. "You do the best you
can but there are times when you're
human."
"I try to spend time being thankful
for what I've got and can do rather
than what I can't," Dr. Lucas said. "It
saves wear and tear on me."
The doctors have always worked on
the philosophy that a child should
never be hurt unnecessarily and that
the child should always be told the
truth.
Being a pediatrician is not easy but
it's rewarding, they agree.
"Most children do well if they are
not frightened by adults," Dr. Webb
said.
"Don't tell children anything to
make them apprehensive about doc-tors,"
Dr. Lucas said. "Tell them
policemen and doctors are their best
griends."
Dr. Webb Or. Lucas