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The "P.F." - Pater Familias - "still has trouble with his gut", wife Frances Folsom Cleveland writes, "& thinks it very strange he does not get strong. He confided to me this morning that he guessed it was a general breaking up!" The gouty Former President, it would appear, had a duodenal ulcer - among other things. He died in 1908, from heart failure.Bryant, of course, was the physician who diagnosed and treated (with two surgeries) Cleveland's secret oral cancer in the White House; no one involved in its removal spoke a word of it until 1917.Autograph Letter Signed, 3 pages, octavo, Princeton, December 4, 1901. To Dr. Joseph D. Bryant.
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Dear Doctor:
I have meant every day to send you a line to tell you that P.F. is getting on - though not very fast - he thinks. I stopped telegraphing when temperature, pulse & respiration became normal. He still has trouble with his gut, & thinks it very strange he does
I have meant every day to send you a line to tell you that P.F. is getting on - though not very fast - he thinks. I stopped telegraphing when temperature, pulse & respiration became normal. He still has trouble with his gut, & thinks it very strange he does
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not get strong. He confided to me this morning that he guessed it was a general breaking up! People who are "breaking up" generally go through pneumonia just that way I suppose! He has been shaved & he sat up a good deal yesterday. Dr Wickoff [sic] has been quite ill & is not out yet.
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I did so enjoy seeing Florence Saturday -- & I am looking forward to a visit from her, if we ever get settled down again.
When P.F. gets "around" I shall be in town to go up to 48th St to look you all over.
Love to all --
Affectionately & Gratefully
FRANCES F. CLEVELAND.
Princeton.
4 Dec. 1901.
When P.F. gets "around" I shall be in town to go up to 48th St to look you all over.
Love to all --
Affectionately & Gratefully
FRANCES F. CLEVELAND.
Princeton.
4 Dec. 1901.