Community Chat

[RainCityWoman]

I had the shot first. Then later as a booster we all got a little tiny cup of a clear liquid that we drank. I am assuming that was the Sabin type.

[ItsME]

Great post, @Oznell .  Thanks!

[Oznell]

Fascinating historical perspectives, @SilleeMee and @CatsyCline -- thanks.

[sward05]

Such a great discovery!  Unfortunately it came after I had polio in 1952.  I was very very lucky, just left with weakness and two different size feet.  Split shoe sizes, a small price to pay for the ability to walk.  Thanks for reminding us of Dr. Salk.

[Oznell]

What a wonderful spirit you have, @sward05!  So glad you made it through that ordeal and are here.

[suzyQ3]

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@Judaline wrote:

These stories are horrifying. My brother and I had an illness, the doctor came (to the house) and said to my mom that it's something that looks like polio but it isn't. I thought she would faint from relief. We got better-dunno what it was.

Did they ever find a cause for polio? Was it a virus? We were told to stay out of crowds but it wasn't contagious, was it?

I remember a movie about yellow fever. They thought they'd catch it from those who were infected, not knowing it came from a mosquito!!! That blew my mind. I just wonder now what caused polio-seems like they never found out, so how could they make a vaccine.

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@Judaline: From the CDC

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis (can’t move parts of the body).

[Carmie]

My father was diagnosed with polio when he was six months old.  He was born to immigrant parents who had little money.  He was the oldest of eleven children.

I often think of my paternal grandmother though she passed when I was a few months old and I don't remember her.  She nursed my father through this horrible disease with no iron lung and very little medical care.  This was in 1911.

My father had both legs and both feet severely deformed.  He walked, ran and did everything most kids his age did, but he fell a lot.  I remember him falling even as an adult. His feet were so deformed that walking looked impossible.

There were kids who had polio when I was younger that wore leg braces and had to be carried around.

My mother was convinced that peach skin was the reason for polio and would not let us touch or eat the skin from peaches.  We had three peach trees in our yard, so it was impossible to avoid them.

When the vaccine came out, my parents took us to the local high school and we waited in a long line to receive a small white condiment cup with a clear tasteless liquid we had to drink. We went back a few times to repeat the process.

A friend of our family has a daughter in law who walks with a limp....she had polio and was never vaccinated. She is in her 30's.  Polio is still in the Amish communities, so it is Important to be vaccinated.

Dr. Jonas Salk indeed saved lives and he should be Honored for his contribution to all mankind. He is a hero.

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

My father had polio several years before I was born in his 30's.   He stayed in the hospital for a year... the doctors told him he would never walk.  He told them otherwise.... and was able to walk with  a leg brace that he wore for the rest of his life. He was left with one weak leg.  Polio ended his career as a lieutenant Commander in the Navy....  but he went on to work a big company in AeroSpace for the rest of his life.  

He never let his disability stop him from being a great Father, fixing things around the house...  and working his entire life being a great provider.  I remember my friends would ask me why my father limped.... and I was always surprised they brought it up  as I never noticed my dad limping or with a disability?

My Father also battled colon cancer in a brain aneurysm  in his 40's and 50's

 Later in his life he had the polio come back    as Post Polio Syndrome... and he had to use a wheel chair for many years. That did not stop him from  living in his own apartment, caring for himself and driving himself everywhere into his 90's.

He died from bladder cancer at 95. 

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You must have been very proud of your father.  No matter how many adversities he suffered he kept on going, a very strong willed man who would not let anything get in the way of his living his life.

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@Carmie wrote:

My father was diagnosed with polio when he was six months old.  He was born to immigrant parents who had little money.  He was the oldest of eleven children.

I often think of my paternal grandmother though she passed when I was a few months old and I don't remember her.  She nursed my father through this horrible disease with no iron lung and very little medical care.  This was in 1911.

My father had both legs and both feet severely deformed.  He walked, ran and did everything most kids his age did, but he fell a lot.  I remember him falling even as an adult. His feet were so deformed that walking looked impossible.

There were kids who had polio when I was younger that wore leg braces and had to be carried around.

My mother was convinced that peach skin was the reason for polio and would not let us touch or eat the skin from peaches.  We had three peach trees in our yard, so it was impossible to avoid them.

When the vaccine came out, my parents took us to the local high school and we waited in a long line to receive a small white condiment cup with a clear tasteless liquid we had to drink. We went back a few times to repeat the process.

A friend of our family has a daughter in law who walks with a limp....she had polio and was never vaccinated. She is in her 30's.  Polio is still in the Amish communities, so it is Important to be vaccinated.

Dr. Jonas Salk indeed saved lives and he should be Honored for his contribution to all mankind. He is a hero.

---

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@Carmie wrote:

My father was diagnosed with polio when he was six months old.  He was born to immigrant parents who had little money.  He was the oldest of eleven children.

I often think of my paternal grandmother though she passed when I was a few months old and I don't remember her.  She nursed my father through this horrible disease with no iron lung and very little medical care.  This was in 1911.

My father had both legs and both feet severely deformed.  He walked, ran and did everything most kids his age did, but he fell a lot.  I remember him falling even as an adult. His feet were so deformed that walking looked impossible.

There were kids who had polio when I was younger that wore leg braces and had to be carried around.

My mother was convinced that peach skin was the reason for polio and would not let us touch or eat the skin from peaches.  We had three peach trees in our yard, so it was impossible to avoid them.

When the vaccine came out, my parents took us to the local high school and we waited in a long line to receive a small white condiment cup with a clear tasteless liquid we had to drink. We went back a few times to repeat the process.

A friend of our family has a daughter in law who walks with a limp....she had polio and was never vaccinated. She is in her 30's.  Polio is still in the Amish communities, so it is Important to be vaccinated.

Dr. Jonas Salk indeed saved lives and he should be Honored for his contribution to all mankind. He is a hero.

---

[Lindsays Grandma]

In  February 1954 my first child was was three years and four  months old and polio was a word we all dreaded.   One of the little boys he played with who lived four houses from ours suddenly became ill with a high fever, and until the doctor was able to determine what was causing it, his mother along with the rest of us on the block were terrified.  Thank God it wasn't polio and thank God for Dr. Jonas Salk and thank you oznell for reminding us of this wonderful man.