Postpolio

[lemit]

Maybe this should be in the Questions section. I don't know.

 

I am postpolio. I am not in a wheelchair. I am fully mobile except that pain generally keeps me from trying much. And besides, the twists of my spine have greatly diminished my lung capacity. I don't know about my future. I'm getting physical therapy to keep from developing something that would look like lateral osteoporosis. My therapist has before-and-after pictures that show me changing from a 20% leftward list to standing straight (the first time someone over 60 has ever accomplished that), but the pain increases every time my spine straightens. I take four kinds of pain medicine and am scheduled for injections. I seem to be breaking through everything.

 

I wonder if there are other postpolios out there who had such a mild case in childhood that they never were immobilized or even (as in my case) diagnosed.

 

I've never met anyone else in my subset of this disease. I'd just like to know how other people are coping.

 

--lemit

[Pyrotex]

Hi lemit, :)

I'm postpolio. However, my case was so severe (I was 5 years old) that I spent about 4 months in an iron lung, unable to move anything but my head.

By the time I was 7, I had reclaimed about 50% use of my arms, torso and hips, and nearly 100% use of my hands. I've been in a wheelchair for 57 years.

 

Postpolio pain hit me rather hard when I turned 40. I had to switch from a manual chair to a powered chair (most of the time). But, with a little Tai Chi, giving up aerobic activities, and adding a few naps per week, I was able to get rid of the pain AND the pain medications.

[JMJones0424]

I have never had polio, but I once broke my back. I can tell you that there are alternatives to pain medication, but this is not the appropriate forum to discuss those alternatives and their consequences. I think you are intelligent enough to realize the botanical meaning of my suggestion...

[Pyrotex]

I have never had polio, but I once broke my back. I can tell you that there are alternatives to pain medication, but this is not the appropriate forum to discuss those alternatives and their consequences. I think you are intelligent enough to realize the botanical meaning of my suggestion...

I have no idea what you're talking about, Jonesy, and I have no desire to smoke it out of you. Weed do better to get back on topic. That would be a lot easier if you worked with me and made it a joint effort.

 

:-/

[lemit]

The solution you may or may not be suggesting has been discussed (but not recommended, of course) by my gastroenterologist for ulcerative colitis.

 

Right now, with tons of the mildest medications possible--everything else makes me sick--I think I'll be all right. But I'm always open to other opinions. I wouldn't be doing this if I weren't.

 

Also, I think the discussed but not recommended plant material grows wild on my farm. I don't know. I'm a total naif :hihi: in that respect.

 

--lemit

[lemit]

Thank you, Pyrotex, for revealing yourself as a human being. That's not common on blogs. As you can see from my posts, that's what I too am attempting. It's nice to have a seemingly safe place like Hypography to do so.

 

--lemit

[Pyrotex]

Well, thank you.

Of course, not everyone thinks of Hypography as a "safe" place.

We have had our share of "creationists" and "missionaries" trying to "save" us.

Most of them thought we were quite dangerous, actually. :hihi:

And we have a few "resident" crazies, wombats, mystics, sociopaths, paranoids and snake oil salesmen who KNOW we're dangerous, and yet, they still keep coming back for some strange reason. :doh:

[Theory5]

I wonder if there are other postpolios out there who had such a mild case in childhood that they never were immobilized or even (as in my case) diagnosed.

 

How could someone not know that you had polio? Where do you live? I thought doctors were trained to recognize the common symtoms of the dangerous desease and afflictions such as polio, aids, mono, etc.

[freeztar]

How could someone not know that you had polio? Where do you live? I thought doctors were trained to recognize the common symtoms of the dangerous desease and afflictions such as polio, aids, mono, etc.

 

 

Theory, it was not uncommon for people to contract the polio virus early in the 20th century (FDR is a famous example). My guess is that lemit is above the age of 60, hence he grew up when polio vaccines were not even in existence yet.

 

Two polio vaccines are used throughout the world to combat poliomyelitis (or polio). The first was developed by Jonas Salk and first tested in 1952. Announced to the world by Salk on April 12, 1955, it consists of an injected dose of inactivated (dead) poliovirus. The oral vaccine developed by Albert Sabin using attenuated poliovirus that he had received from Hilary Koprowski. Human trials of Sabin's vaccine began in 1957 and it was licensed in 1962.[1] Because there is no long term carrier state for poliovirus in immunocompetent individuals, polioviruses have no non-primate reservoir in nature, and survival of the virus in the environment for an extended period of time appears to be remote. Therefore, interruption of person-to person transmission of the virus by vaccination is the critical step in global polio eradication.[2] The two vaccines have eradicated polio from most countries in the world[3][4] and reduced the worldwide incidence from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to just over 1300 cases in 2007.[5][6][7]

Polio vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Tormod]

Maybe this should be in the Questions section. I don't know.

 

The Q&A section is great if you don't know where to post, but sometimes we move those threads to more relevant forums. Your post fits right here, so good job with that! :)

 

Thank you for sharing your story and for joining Hypography.

[Pyrotex]

How could someone not know that you had polio? Where do you live? I thought doctors were trained to recognize the common symtoms of the dangerous desease and afflictions such as polio, aids, mono, etc.

Apparently, it was and is very easy.

 

I was diagnosed with scarlet fever and meningitis for several days (I was in a coma at that point) before a new doctor, his first day in the clinic, diagnosed me correctly.

 

For milder cases, so-called "non-paralytic polio", weakness in just one foot or one leg appears somewhat after the fever, delirium, and flu-like aches & pains have passed. Sometimes (often) the muscle weakness will be so slight that the person may not notice it for some time. It may only become apparent when they realize that they can no longer walk 2 miles to Granny's house, or they can no longer lift their toolbox without pain.

[Theory5]

Theory, it was not uncommon for people to contract the polio virus early in the 20th century (FDR is a famous example). My guess is that lemit is above the age of 60, hence he grew up when polio vaccines were not even in existence yet.

 

 

Polio vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Ah, its just so hard for me to imagine a world so different but only a few decades from this one. No matter how many times I look back onto the past I am still amazed we came so far in so little time. Now with all these vaccines and medicine and everything else I can't really imagine a world with all these viruses.

[Pyrotex]

Ah, its just so hard for me to imagine a world so different but only a few decades from this one. No matter how many times I look back onto the past I am still amazed we came so far in so little time. Now with all these vaccines and medicine and everything else I can't really imagine a world with all these viruses.

I totally agree with you.

If I had been born only 3 years later, I would have gotten the first Salk vaccine dispensed in north Alabama.

 

But then, I wouldn't have grown up to be the splendid, handsome, intelligent, bon vivant that I am today. :)

[lemit]

My late parents told me the doctors would have made a positive diagnosis if they had seen one more symptom. The doctors never got that symptom, so I was one of those kids in the 50's who stood in line for the injection and later the oral vaccine, not knowing that it was too late.

 

Yes, the medicine practiced in rural north Missouri was not always current, but it seems I got pretty good care. In fact, my primary care physician around the time I had polio was later head of pediatrics at the University of Missouri Medical Center in Kansas City, so she was probably pretty good.

 

I'm glad I started this thread. It's good to see people learning about polio. People become too complacent and start to think vaccination might no longer be necessary. This is not a pleasant condition.

 

I just got an epidural and am still adjusting to that. I think I heard the reason I needed the epidural is that my sciatic nerve might be somehow stretched over my hip bone. Does that make sense to anybody? It doesn't to me, but I don't know that much. Thank you to all of you who are helping me learn.

 

Now, my leg is going numb. Again, thank you to all of you participating in this discussion.

 

--lemit

[lemit]

So, nobody knows about sciatic nerves wrapping around hip bones? Is that possible?

 

Thanks.

 

--lemit

[lemit]

I have another question.

 

I know that summer is bad for pinched nerves because it increases the pressure on them. Why, then, does low air pressure make them go crazy?

 

--lemit

 

p.s. I used the technical lingo because this is, after all, a science group.

[Pyrotex]

Hmmm. I really don't know. Never heard of that one, before.

I have some trouble with my sciatic nerve because my glutius maximus does not provide enough padding. Especially in winter, my left leg will go numb or tingly.

It will also go numb if I am dehydrated!

I guess the butt muscle contracts a bit?

Anyway, I am more prone to get dehydrated in the summer.