My Life With Polio (Part 1)
Today was a weird day at work. It was relatively normal as far as work goes, however I was feeling a little strange. It had been a very trying week both for me and Brenda. Life is tough sometimes. I was going about making backups, updating firewalls, and installing software. Just trying to tie up odds and ends. I had a few minutes waiting for a DVD backup to finalize, so I thought I would check out Facebook. Nothing much going on there, I decided to check out Tumblr. I love photos, especially old ones. As I was viewing the vintage photos on my dashboard, I saw one that blew me away. I mean, it made me stop everything I was doing. At that point I just had to stop and take a walk outside.
Now, I've had polio since I was a little over a year old (as of 2014, over 58 years). So, I've gotten used to living with it and the displeasure, pain, suffering and inconvenience it causes. But for some reason, the photo I saw really hit home. I have my medical records from when they first suspected I had polio. I even have one of the many braces I used to wear. I vividly remember the X-Rays of my back and how it looked like a huge S. But for some reason, on this particular day, this photo made me literally stop! I think it was a combination of things. First, it has been very busy lately. I have been working a lot, doing lots of things around the house and becoming very fatigued. That kinda makes me frustrated. I've had a lot on my mind lately. Just a lot going on. So....... when I saw that photo, my mind kinda went into overload and everything stopped. Actually everything didn't stop! It just took me a while to digest what was going on in my head. You see, any one of those kids in that photo could have been me. Actually, around 1957 that was me! In Warm Springs, Georgia. In the children's ward. Paralyzed and a long way from home. I had a screwed up back, a useless left leg, a messed up left foot and a hip that didn't want to cooperate! It's funny how you can remember things that happened to you at such a young age. I can still see the ward I was in. I remember the kid next to me. Neither he or his mother could speak a word of English. When she would visit him, all I could hear was gibberish. I even remember when my mom and dad would visit. They would take me out on the balcony so I could see my little brother, Randy, in the parking lot with my great aunt. We would wave at each other...... The details of Warm Springs and the many years of therapy afterwards is very vivid in my mind.
I was born in October 1955 in a small rural town to young, hard working country folks. My mom and dad got married real young. People did that back then. I came along about a year and a half after they got married. They say I was a smart kid, and that I learned to walk very early. However, when I was a little over a year old, I started falling a lot. Having various problems, I went to the tiny hospital here to see the doctor. He was going to try and figure out what was wrong with me. Doctor Holder was our family doctor. I am extremely grateful for his medical wisdom. He sensed right away what he thought it was and got moving to get me to a specialist ASAP. In no time, I was admitted to Warm Springs Hospital. Warm Springs is a small town about two and a half hours northwest of our hometown. I did, in fact, have Polio! I'm not going to try to explain the medical definition of Polio, you can google it if you want to. I just want to share what life is like after you contract it. Statistically 0.5% of the people that contract Polio experience paralysis or an inability to move. So, I was in that 0.5%.
Basically polio put me on my back. I couldn't walk or even sit up. I had to wear braces, lots of braces. I had shoes that had metal bars running from shoe to shoe. Braces for my legs. But the real kicker was a "corset" type brace with metal bars running up my back. This was to keep my back straight. Plus when I went to bed at night, on top of the braces, I had to wear a strait jacket type of contraption that basically tied me to the bed. Mom would put the strait jacket thing on me at night and then tie me to the bed. It was a firm bed and I was stretched out and tied down. Oh, don't worry. I remember it, but it didn't scar me for life or make me have bad dreams. All of this was just an attempt to make me better. My mother would spend hours every day giving me therapy. Stretching my foot while applying pressure to it (encouraging it to straighten out). Applying resistance to my leg. All kind of back exercises. Plus she always encouraged me to "sit straight"! I got better. Lots of work and prayers. I had to make several trips a year to Warm Springs for checkups until I was 14 years old. I remember them telling me, my mom and dad that I was about as good as I was gonna get at my last visit when the officially released me. And that was a good thing! I could walk, ride a bicycle, play army, ride motorcycles & go-carts, play ball, play guitar and just about anything else any normal kid could do. Was I as good as they were? I don't know. I never thought about it. Once I learned to walk again (and yes, I did have to learn to walk all over again) I really didn't give polio much thought. Mom and dad treated me like any other member of the family once I recovered. I say "once I recovered" because they had to give me a ton of attention as I was recovering from and fighting the symptoms of polio. Years of therapy, learning to walk again, wearing special shoes, you know, all the stuff that comes with having a crippling disease like polio.
It's funny how well I remember going through having polio and what my life was like. I remember after I came back home from Warm Springs, mom used to set me out on the front porch so I could get some sunshine and fresh air. This still cracks me up, she said the neighborhood kids would come over and tip me over. I guess to see what would happen to me. So she would have to set me back up (I was still in braces and couldn't move very well). I also remember wanting cowboy boots and lineman boots. But I couldn't have them. I had to have special lace up shoes. For a long time, I had to have special shoes that were made at Warm Springs. I remember a pair of shoes I had that had metal braces running between the shoes to keep my legs a certain distance apart and kept my feet pointed in the right direction. They were pretty useless as far as walking or trying to walk was concerned. But I guess they served their purpose. Hey, my feet point in the right direction and I can walk! I also remember when I was maybe in the third grade. They lined us all up and we went to the gym to get our "Polio vaccine". The vaccine was squeezed on a sugar cube and they would pop that in your mouth. I remember telling the nurse; "I already have Polio". That didn't help, I got the vaccine anyway.
So, what's it like being a kid with polio? For me it was pretty normal. I didn't know any different. Looking back, I can see how my life was different. I realize now that I had to compensate for the effects and limitation of my paralysis. I also realize now where a lot of the pain came from. There were things I couldn't do very well back then, but it didn't stop me from trying. I loved riding motorcycles and playing guitar as a kid. Those are two things that have stuck with me throughout my life. I was a slender kid, not very strong. Of course that was primarily a result of the polio. As a result, I didn't excel in a lot of popular sports. I was told I was pretty smart as a kid. I guess I was OK. I've made it 59 years (so far) and do pretty good. I don't really have any special stories that I think set me aside from any other kid growing up in the '50's and '60's. I thought I was normal. My theory is that your life is what you make of it and what you do with it. So I did (or tried to do) what everyone else was doing. I rode a bicycle. I walked to school. I built forts and swam. I am very thankful that my parents didn't treat me any different. They never pointed out that I was different or had to be treated special. I got my rear end tore up on numerous occasions!
Once I learned to walk and basically function again after leaving Warm Springs, I didn't give polio a second thought. Not until I was much older........
Now, I've had polio since I was a little over a year old (as of 2014, over 58 years). So, I've gotten used to living with it and the displeasure, pain, suffering and inconvenience it causes. But for some reason, the photo I saw really hit home. I have my medical records from when they first suspected I had polio. I even have one of the many braces I used to wear. I vividly remember the X-Rays of my back and how it looked like a huge S. But for some reason, on this particular day, this photo made me literally stop! I think it was a combination of things. First, it has been very busy lately. I have been working a lot, doing lots of things around the house and becoming very fatigued. That kinda makes me frustrated. I've had a lot on my mind lately. Just a lot going on. So....... when I saw that photo, my mind kinda went into overload and everything stopped. Actually everything didn't stop! It just took me a while to digest what was going on in my head. You see, any one of those kids in that photo could have been me. Actually, around 1957 that was me! In Warm Springs, Georgia. In the children's ward. Paralyzed and a long way from home. I had a screwed up back, a useless left leg, a messed up left foot and a hip that didn't want to cooperate! It's funny how you can remember things that happened to you at such a young age. I can still see the ward I was in. I remember the kid next to me. Neither he or his mother could speak a word of English. When she would visit him, all I could hear was gibberish. I even remember when my mom and dad would visit. They would take me out on the balcony so I could see my little brother, Randy, in the parking lot with my great aunt. We would wave at each other...... The details of Warm Springs and the many years of therapy afterwards is very vivid in my mind. I was born in October 1955 in a small rural town to young, hard working country folks. My mom and dad got married real young. People did that back then. I came along about a year and a half after they got married. They say I was a smart kid, and that I learned to walk very early. However, when I was a little over a year old, I started falling a lot. Having various problems, I went to the tiny hospital here to see the doctor. He was going to try and figure out what was wrong with me. Doctor Holder was our family doctor. I am extremely grateful for his medical wisdom. He sensed right away what he thought it was and got moving to get me to a specialist ASAP. In no time, I was admitted to Warm Springs Hospital. Warm Springs is a small town about two and a half hours northwest of our hometown. I did, in fact, have Polio! I'm not going to try to explain the medical definition of Polio, you can google it if you want to. I just want to share what life is like after you contract it. Statistically 0.5% of the people that contract Polio experience paralysis or an inability to move. So, I was in that 0.5%.
Basically polio put me on my back. I couldn't walk or even sit up. I had to wear braces, lots of braces. I had shoes that had metal bars running from shoe to shoe. Braces for my legs. But the real kicker was a "corset" type brace with metal bars running up my back. This was to keep my back straight. Plus when I went to bed at night, on top of the braces, I had to wear a strait jacket type of contraption that basically tied me to the bed. Mom would put the strait jacket thing on me at night and then tie me to the bed. It was a firm bed and I was stretched out and tied down. Oh, don't worry. I remember it, but it didn't scar me for life or make me have bad dreams. All of this was just an attempt to make me better. My mother would spend hours every day giving me therapy. Stretching my foot while applying pressure to it (encouraging it to straighten out). Applying resistance to my leg. All kind of back exercises. Plus she always encouraged me to "sit straight"! I got better. Lots of work and prayers. I had to make several trips a year to Warm Springs for checkups until I was 14 years old. I remember them telling me, my mom and dad that I was about as good as I was gonna get at my last visit when the officially released me. And that was a good thing! I could walk, ride a bicycle, play army, ride motorcycles & go-carts, play ball, play guitar and just about anything else any normal kid could do. Was I as good as they were? I don't know. I never thought about it. Once I learned to walk again (and yes, I did have to learn to walk all over again) I really didn't give polio much thought. Mom and dad treated me like any other member of the family once I recovered. I say "once I recovered" because they had to give me a ton of attention as I was recovering from and fighting the symptoms of polio. Years of therapy, learning to walk again, wearing special shoes, you know, all the stuff that comes with having a crippling disease like polio.
It's funny how well I remember going through having polio and what my life was like. I remember after I came back home from Warm Springs, mom used to set me out on the front porch so I could get some sunshine and fresh air. This still cracks me up, she said the neighborhood kids would come over and tip me over. I guess to see what would happen to me. So she would have to set me back up (I was still in braces and couldn't move very well). I also remember wanting cowboy boots and lineman boots. But I couldn't have them. I had to have special lace up shoes. For a long time, I had to have special shoes that were made at Warm Springs. I remember a pair of shoes I had that had metal braces running between the shoes to keep my legs a certain distance apart and kept my feet pointed in the right direction. They were pretty useless as far as walking or trying to walk was concerned. But I guess they served their purpose. Hey, my feet point in the right direction and I can walk! I also remember when I was maybe in the third grade. They lined us all up and we went to the gym to get our "Polio vaccine". The vaccine was squeezed on a sugar cube and they would pop that in your mouth. I remember telling the nurse; "I already have Polio". That didn't help, I got the vaccine anyway.
So, what's it like being a kid with polio? For me it was pretty normal. I didn't know any different. Looking back, I can see how my life was different. I realize now that I had to compensate for the effects and limitation of my paralysis. I also realize now where a lot of the pain came from. There were things I couldn't do very well back then, but it didn't stop me from trying. I loved riding motorcycles and playing guitar as a kid. Those are two things that have stuck with me throughout my life. I was a slender kid, not very strong. Of course that was primarily a result of the polio. As a result, I didn't excel in a lot of popular sports. I was told I was pretty smart as a kid. I guess I was OK. I've made it 59 years (so far) and do pretty good. I don't really have any special stories that I think set me aside from any other kid growing up in the '50's and '60's. I thought I was normal. My theory is that your life is what you make of it and what you do with it. So I did (or tried to do) what everyone else was doing. I rode a bicycle. I walked to school. I built forts and swam. I am very thankful that my parents didn't treat me any different. They never pointed out that I was different or had to be treated special. I got my rear end tore up on numerous occasions!
Once I learned to walk and basically function again after leaving Warm Springs, I didn't give polio a second thought. Not until I was much older........
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