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Survivors struggle with legacy of childhood illness

Survivors struggle with legacy of childhood illness image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
April
Year
2005
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Survivors struggle with legacy of childhood illness
Post-polio syndrome
results from decades
of additional stress
on functioning parts
8Y DAVE GERSHMAN
NewoSidffRe(><Hiet
The pain is measured in foot·
steps.
The baby boomers who walk
into the University of Michigan
I'Qst-Polio Clinic each Thursday
have battled the disease for
decades. Polio paralyzed or
weakened them as children, but
they regained use of some muscles
over time and relearned
how to walk by relying on their
good leg.
Some had even cast aside the
bracestheysohat.edaschildren.
But30or40yearsofputting
suchstressonthebodycauses
adifferentsetofproblemsand
more pain. The hurt is a sign of
theirdeterminationtocarryon
withlife,buttheyneedtheclinic'shclptokeepgoing.
"The thing that drives the
people to come in is pain,~ said
Mark Taylor, an orthotist and
prosthetistattheUniversityof
~-GlO· ' ""'Il.lHl-""""" """
Mark T•ylor, a prosthetist •nd orthotist It the Uniwrslty of Mlchlg•n.
worb on • br•c• for • polio petlent •t U-M Orthotics & Prosthetics
C.nter.Taylorlwtdpollou•chilci.
Michigan Post-Polio Clinic.
"Pain has a tendency to change
a man and woman's mind."
Fifty years ago this week, a
vaccine tested in a study run by
a U-M epidemiologist was announced
to be safe. The vaccine
meant polio epidemics in this
eountry are relegated to the
pages of history books.
Yet the polio survivors who
show up each week at the U-M
clinicaredealingwiththedisease's
legacy. In what's called
post-polio syndrome, their bodies
have essentially worn out
fasterbe<!auseoftheadditional
stresslhatisputonlhepartsof
their body that function properly,
and a further weakening of
muscles already affected by the
virus.Anestimated300,000peopleinthiscoWitryareatriskof
or have already seen their motorfunctionsdeterioratedueto
post-polio syndrome
Taylor, 53, knows what his patients
are going through. He is a
polio survivor himself.
As a child in Idaho, Taylor and
his father had polio. His father's
case was more serious, because
the polio affected his !Wigs. An
ironlung,alargemachlnethat
allows people to breathe, was
sent from California but did not
arrive in Idaho in time to save
his father. Taylor was 9 months
old at the time. He was paralyzed
below the waist.
When he was 3, Taylor regained
mobility in one of his
legs and was an active child. He
broke his braces every few
weeks. Polio kills nerve cells,
but some surviving nerves grow
new endings to restore some
muscle function. Over the years
he endured multiple surgeries
and has always walked with the
aid of crutches.
"There's only two choices,"
he said. ~Either move on with
life or give up."
As did thousands of others,
Taylor said, he moved on. He
rode horses. Fora dozen years,
he played eompetitive wheelchair
basketball and was good
at it; he was hooked as soon as
hemadehisfirstbasket.Hestill
ridesamotorcycle.Andoncein
a while Taylor goes to a friend's
farm, where he enjoys driving
the tractor He'd still like nothing
better than to be a farmer.
"With Mark having polio, it
helps because he can relate to
us a Jot easier," said Nancy
Giroux of Atlas Thwnship, who
usestheclinicwithherhusband,
Donald, who also had polio.
Taylor spends time watching
how patients walk.. Then he and
theclinic'sstafffitthemwith
braces unavailable 50 years ago.
They are made from space-age
materials like carbon-fiber,
which is both light and strong
For other patients, surgery or
whee1chairsareoptions.
Nancy Giroux, 58, is receiving
new braces from the clinic.
They run the length of her leg,
from the foot to the hip, unlike
heroldbraces,whichonlyfitted
aroundhalfofherleg.Stricken
with polio at age 3, she has
walked with crutches or braces
since she was 5 years old
~1 climbed trees and got
stuck,~ she said with a chuckle.
~1 tried to ice skate, but that
didn't work out. M
The eouple, who have three
children, met through their
mothers, who were best friends
while growing up. Donald, 59,
was paralyzed from below the
neck and hospitalized for a year
when polio hit him at age 8
He regained use of his arms
and enough movement in his
legs to walk wearing braces. For
years, he worked through his
difficulties,drivingatractoror
even working standing up at an
assemblyline.Heretiredinl987
afl.erhislegshurttoobadly.
His condition had deteriorated
tothepointwherehefeltlikehe
was that kid getting over polio
again, except without a younger
person'stoleranceforthedif'lkulty.
Hefeltli.kehelostthebattle.
"I overcame my disability, and
thcnlcamedownwithpost-polio,~
he said.
But the couple said through
the help of the clinic and their
bond with each other, they've
kept going.
"We got into a support group,"
Donaldsaid,"andlhentogether,
we pretty wen have overcome.M
ReporterDaVf!~shmancanbe
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