"Dr. [Porter Thomas] Fleming was a fine doctor and a wonderful man. He would go to New York every year for post graduate work in surgery. He was the first doctor in this area to realize the importance of fresh air for the pneumonia patient. When he made a call to a patient and found that he had pneumonia, he would raise a window near the bed and if on his next visit he found it closed, he did not hesitate to tell the patient's family, 'If you are not going to do what I tell you to do, get another doctor.'
I remember a story he told me about something that happened back when medicine was often learned by serving as an apprentice under another doctor. One such doctor who was starting out on his own was a very conscientious young man. He carried a little book with him and when he learned something new about the treatment of any disease he would write it down. There were several cases of typhoid fever under his care, and he had been following the accepted treatment of 'no food or water'. There was one young fellow who begged for something to eat. But the doctor refused, 'You can't eat, it will kill you.' But the young man kept begging his mother for some collard greens and she relented and cooked up a batch of collards and gave him all he could eat.
The next morning when the doctor got there he looked at the patient, 'Oh, you're a lot better.'
'Yes, he's better,' his mother said. 'He begged me so hard for collard greens, I just decided that I was not going to let him die begging for food. So I cooked him some and gave him all he wanted. He went off to sleep and this morning he is better.'
The doctor was puzzled, 'Well that is sure strange.' And he took out his little book and wrote, Collard greens are good for typhoid fever.
When he saw his next typhoid fever patient who begged for food, the doctor told the man's wife, 'Cook up a pot of collard greens and give him all he can eat.'
He hurried back the next morning to check on him only to have the patient's wife tell him, 'He died about midnight, Doctor.'
'Well, well, that's sure strange.' and the doctor took out his little book, found the right page and after Collard greens are good for typhoid fever, he wrote sometimes.
From I Remember When, by Dr. Edward Lee Gibson.