The People's Physician: Dr. Edwin Masters
by Dottie L. Heffron
Note to readers: The following article was initially published in 2009. I would like to publicly thank Paul Walters of Alton, Illinois for helping me on my journey back to good health and giving me the best gift of all, Dr. Masters.
Feeling like I was on a sinking ship, I poured my heart out to the voice on the other end of the phone. I told him I found a doctor who would treat me for Lyme disease but he would only take cash, he was very expensive, a long drive from my home, and I would have to get a loan to pay for such treatment. I did not know how I was going to do this.
He asked me who it was and I answered. The voice asked, "Do you want to see Dr. Masters?"
I asked him if he was kidding around with me, and his response was, No, I can get you in to see him."
"Are you sure?" I asked in an unbelieving voice.
"Yes," replied the voice, "I am sure. I will call you when I have an appointment set and I will come and drive you down to see him."
"Oh, you really don't need to do that, you're sick yourself," I told the voice.
"No, no I wouldn't have it any other way," he said. With that, we said our goodbyes.
I imagined Dr. Masters, since he was a very important person, was too busy to see someone like me.
Days had passed when I received another phone call from my friend. "Guess what," he said. "You're now the patient of the most wonderful doctor and Lyme specialist around these parts!"
In the next instant I found myself yelling into the phone, "Woohoo! That is sweet. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
"But how will I pay him?" I heard myself saying in the phone.
"He will take your Illinois State Public Aid card, my dear," said my friend.
I thought, "I must be dreaming." Most doctors who treat for Lyme charge big dollar amounts and most do not even take insurance, let alone take a state medical card from another state. "This guy must be a good guy," I thought. Little did I know, three years later I would owe him my life and he would lose his.
My friend gave me the date and time and before hanging up he told me where I could watch a video of Dr. Masters at a conference where he was a presenter. I reviewed the video and to my surprise I found myself laughing right out loud at some of the things he said in his speech. Wow, he was so witty and smart, I clung on every word. ("Just think, I was actually going to get treatment from someone who discovered a new strain of Borrelia. Lucky me!")
I did a lot of research about Dr. Masters so he would know I did my homework when we met. I scurried around on the Internet like I was a squirrel collecting nuts. I knew in my heart this doctor was different and would not roll his eyes and claim I was crazy when I told him all my symptoms. Being a widow has been so hard at times, but now I could rest assured, knowing my three sons would not have to live without their mom too.
Dr. Masters achieved many accomplishments in his lifetime. Dr. Masters is best known for his work with ticks and people who have been bitten, which led to his discovering a new strain of Borrelia in the Midwest. We know it as STARI or B. lonestari. Masters told me he saw a need in this area for research because people were coming into his office with erythema migrans (EM rash) and presenting with Lyme-like issues. Always thinking of his patients, he improved medical equipment and holds seven U.S patents for his inventions. He published over 53 peer articles in prestigious medical journals along with presenting at medical conferences worldwide. Masters was a dynamic speaker and spoke not only to his peers but to general audiences as well, making all feel informed. There are two remaining articles due out in July 2009's issue of the "Missouri Medical", a peer-reviewed publication.
Dr. Masters graduated from Advance High School and was the Class of 1965's valedictorian. He went on to receive an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College, an M.D. degree from the University of Tennessee Medical School, and then on to complete his internship at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He also was on the National Board of Medical Examiners, American Academy of Family Physicians and on the Boards of Certified Family Practice and Geriatrics.
Dr. Masters was also the president of Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society, speaker of the House of Delegates at the Missouri State Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Association and chairman of EICS: Emerging Infections in the Central States Research Group.
One of his delights was being a judge at the International Science Fair for high school students. He also took young aspiring medical students under his wing to mentor them, knowing they may hold the key to our medical future. He has helped guide them to become medical successes. His son, Reid, has carried on the Masters tradition and became the 3rd generation doctor, which made his family so very proud. I recall asking Dr. Masters, "What is Reid going to do, now that he's graduating?"
Masters replied, "He's going to do whatever the Navy wants him to do because they paid for it." And with that, we both started laughing.
Among Dr. Masters' other accomplishments, they included being president of the National Black Walnut Tree Association and Missouri Tree Farmer of the Year (he worked very hard to make new species of walnuts). He was known to have planted many walnut trees throughout his lifetime. He also developed and patented a FDA approved tick and mosquito trap called the "Skeeter Plus." The Skeeter Plus does not use propane like other traps and is manufactured at a local plant near Sikeston, Missouri by the Dewitt Company.
The day finally came and I was just too excited to make room for being so sick. With my tingling hands and feet, plus approximately thirty six other odd symptoms, we made our way down the long 4 hour trek to Dr. Masters' office. It was a lovely nice day in the summer of 2006 and my friend and I chatted about this and that until we arrived. In the parking lot my friend said, "Look at all the different license plates from all around the United States. They are here to see Dr. Masters."
I was just so thrilled treatment was around the corner and soon I would start feeling well. Being treated by a master not only in name but reputation was the cherry on the top of the sundae.
As I sat in the waiting room, fidgeting like a small child, I kept going over and over in my head how I would greet him. Should I curtsy? After all, I felt like he was royalty. No way, who does that anymore, I chuckled softly to myself. Should I call him sir or doctor? My palms were all sweaty. Oh no, they were calling me, I turned to my friend and asked if he would go in with me. As we were being led down the hallway, I tried to catch a glimpse of him, just to try to make some eye contact but he was nowhere to be seen. After all the preliminary testing the nurse said, "Dr. Masters will be with you in a moment."
My friend tried to calm my nervousness, explaining that this doctor was not like most and that I had nothing to worry about. "He is just like you or me," my friend said, reassuring my angst. With that came a knock on the door, and I heard my mousy voice say, "Come in." When the door flung back, there was the doc smiling and saying, "Hi Paul, nice to see you."
Paul turned to look at me and said, "Ed, this is Dottie, the girl I told you about." With that he turned his attention to me and extended his hand, "Hi Dottie, you can call me Ed," he cheerily said. "I hear you got a nasty tick bite and are having some problems. You can get to feeling better, but it's going to be a long, long road. I just want you to be aware that this won't be easy."
I took his hand and shook it very tight. "Hello, Dr. Masters. It's so very nice to meet you, and thank you for helping me feel better." I could see in his eyes that he was a very caring person and truly loved being a doctor. I held up a lime green shirt with black lettering on it. "This is for you," I stuttered. "I heard you say it on a video and it is so good I just had to use it. We all wear them when we have booths at the fair and other events." He held it up and read his own words: Data over Dogma, Evidence over Egos and Patients over Politics. EJ Masters, MD. At my very next appointment, he made sure to let me know that his beautiful wife Jackie loved the shirt so much she wouldn't give it back to him! That is just too cute!
Over the next three years, I used to look forward the drive to Sikeston. I would spend days getting ready to share things with him so I wouldn't leave anything out. The day I was heading down there my notebook would be ready, chock full of notes to ask him. He knew I had taken up being an advocate so he would share stories with me. On many occasions, we would stay talking so long I am sure the next person would have thought he'd left for the day. But not once was I told to hurry up or treated unkindly.
Recalling one conversation, I brought up how old I was to remember that doctors once made house calls. He chuckled with delight and told me some stories about when his father was a young doctor. He said that back then "if a person only had some butter or corn to trade for services, then that is what the doctor took." He recalled a story his father told him about receiving a chicken for payment for delivering a baby. "A chicken for a baby!" We found ourselves laughing so hard it became a running joke between us. When I would show up for my next appointment, I would tell him I had a chicken and two goats for payment this week, he'd say, "Oh good, tie the goats over there please and I'll take the chicken."
All kidding aside, no pun intended, Dr. Masters was really like that. One instance I recall, the friend who drove me down there to see him was having some problems with his insurance company. The company was stalling and did not want to pay for medical services. He told me he tried to pay Dr. Masters with his own money and Dr. Masters refused to take it. He said to my friend, "You will pay me when you can." That is just what kind of doctor he was. If you were down on your luck, he would not add to your misery, after all he knew just how sick you were with these terrible tick-borne diseases. That is one of the things that made Dr. Masters a true master at his trade. He was truly "The People's Physician."
During a conversation one of my friends told me she was sick. She had a chronic cough she couldn't shake and had been to several specialists. They did not know what was wrong after she had umpteen tests. Everything came back "normal." She is the coordinator at our local college for dental assisting and she and her husband are known deer hunters. When I asked her if she had had a tick on her for an extended period, she replied that her husband took one off her rump about a year ago. I gasped over the phone and I told her it might be a Borrelia infection. I told her, "Please, if I can get you in to see the world’s best for this bacterial infection, will you go?"
"Oh yes," was her reply and we found ourselves headed to Sikeston.
When her testing came back, it was positive for B. burgdorferi. A couple of years later she called me up and told me her son had been bitten, developed the bulls eye rash and she knew what to do, thanks to me. She started crying, which made me start crying. She told me she was so very thankful to me for keeping up the vigil I have against this terrible disease. I told her most of my strength comes from being so angry and now two of my three sons are infected as well.
One haunting note Dr. Masters left with me, "Try and not be so angry with the doctors who do not treat over 21 days or treat at all." He said, "It's like this, think of them as 'they are just plain wrong and you are right.' Stand your ground. You still have to work with them, so just remember they are wrong."
My reply to him that day was, "Dr. Masters, that is easier said than done."
He chuckled, "Yes, I know, I have been angry a time or two."
When I learned the morning of his death, my friend called and asked, "Are you sitting down?" Oh, I knew in my heart this was not a good phone call. The last time someone said that to me, my husband of 18 years died. "Dr. Masters passed away this morning," the voice on the other end said. I sat in shock, especially to learn that it was Fathers Day and his 39th wedding anniversary. We were working on a project with the doctor and that is how we learned of his passing.
I know we all must leave this earth one day and we cannot choose which day that might be. However, it is difficult for the ones left behind who yearn for their loved one who took the journey before them. I think to be remembered and celebrated as such a fine human being is priceless, just as Dr. Masters was and continues to be. He made you feel like you were his only concern and he was all yours alone. I will continue to sing his praises just as always with the sweetest of tunes. After all, he belonged to the whole world, not just little me.
The whole world mourned the day he left and there seems to be a little less magic now. I know in my heart he would want us not to be sad, not even for one moment, but to use his teachings, move forward -- turning the rain into sunshine, so his walnut trees can flourish.
