FLORIDA EAST COAST POST

OUR UPCOMING CONFERENCE

Well, our conference plans are coming along – not as quickly as I would like, but coming along. As of now the following speakers have accepted our invitation:- Dr. Mary Ann Keenan, orthopedic surgeon, at the Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; Dr. Frederick Maynard, physiatrist, co-editor of the Revised Edition - Handbook on The Late Effects of Poliomyelitis, Marquette, MI; Margaret Backman, PhD., clinical psychologist, in New York, NY; Dr. Paul Peach, former director Warm Springs GA Polio Clinic; Dr. Gudni Thorsteinsson; director of Mayo Clinic’s Post-Polio Clinic in Jacksonville, FL; Dr. Thomas Brown, Urologist, Daytona Beach, FL; Joan Headley, Executive Director of GINI and International Polio Network, St. Louis, MO; as well as two representatives from Medicare – one who will give us all the new information on Parts A and B, and another who will tell us about Medicare and Durable Medical Equipment. Several other invitations are out and we will let you know when we have acceptances.

Starting with this newsletter we have included a Room Reservation Card from the Hilton, and a Conference Registration form.

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Reprinted from Daytona Beach News-Journal, Monday, November 29, 1999

Polio pioneer at war again

By JANE E. ALLEN, Of the Los Angeles Times

Back in the 1950’s, pioneering orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jacquelin Perry performed spinal surgeries that helped paralyzed polio patients regain mobility after emerging from the iron prisons of mechanical ventilators.

Today at 81, Perry is seeing them again. Grown men and women who thought they’d beaten the stealthy infection that struck terror in them and their helpless parents decades ago and pushed the United States into a frantic but fruitful search for a vaccine.

“Patients are coming back to me (whom) I treated in ’55 and ’56,” Perry says in the clinic at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, a city in southeast Los Angeles County, which serves people whose polio is tormenting them anew.

“You don’t look back. You look at what you can do to help them.”

Perry’s goal is to staunch the deterioration, pain and muscle weakness wrought by post-polio syndrome, a little-understood aftereffect of polio. Slowly and insidiously, it reverses the gains that surgery and rehabilitation achieved for thousands infected by the polio virus. In about half of polio survivors, the symptoms turn up when muscles that compensated for polio damage give out unexpectedly.

Among the patients Perry has followed is Richard Lloyd Daggett, 59, of Downey. When Daggett was 15, Perry fused his spinal vertebrae. He walked unaided for 30 years. But post-polio landed him in a wheelchair she helped him obtain.

Daggett, president of the Polio Survivors Association, calls Perry “the most knowledgeable polio physician anybody knows.”

Officially, Perry is retired and off the Rancho Los Amigos payroll. But you’d never know by the hours she keeps.

Despite quiet struggles with advanced Parkinson’s disease, the grande dame of polio physicians continues to draw patients from around the globe 40 years after the Los Angeles Times named her 1959 Woman of the Year for medicine.

Parkinson’s has slightly thickened her rapid-fire speech, slowed her rise from chairs, and forced her to take a rest at midday. As she says: “You can do anything you want, but you can’t do everything.”

Editor’s Note:- I had the privilege of hearing and meeting Dr. Jacquelin Perry at several Polio conferences I attended, including one held by the Post-Polio Support Group in Ocala.

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Reprinted from Daytona Beach News-Journal, Friday, January 21, 2000

Government favors

polio shots for kids

ATLANTA (AP) -- The government Thursday endorsed polio shots for children instead of the oral vaccine because of the very small chance that the oral dose can lead to a polio infection.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed the advice of an advisory panel that decided last summer the benefits of the oral polio vaccine no longer outweigh the risks.

The agency publishes its recommended immunization schedule each January as a guide for state and local health departments and pediatricians.

This year’s guide also added a recommendation that children get a hepatitis A vaccine in Western states with historically high rates of the virus: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. Hepatitis A is a relatively mild form of the virus; most patients require no medical care. The CDC also removed a diarrhea vaccine because it can cause bowel obstruction.

The oral polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Albert Sabin, has been used for nearly four decades and played a major role in the elimination of polio. But because it is made with a live virus, it causes about eight people in the United States each year to become infected with polio.

The injectable vaccine developed by the medical pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk in the 1950s relies on a killed virus. Salk had long insisted his vaccine was safer, but other scientists said it was not as effective at providing lifelong immunity.

According to the new CDC recommendations, the oral vaccine should be used only in cases of widespread outbreaks, for children traveling to areas where polio is endemic or epidemic and for children whose parents stop short of pursuing all four shots in the polio regimen.

The oral vaccine’s U.S. manufacturer, Wyeth-Lederle, stopped making it last year and has agreed to refund any unused supplies doctors return.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said last month its members can continue using their remaining supplies of the oral vaccine if given as the third and fourth doses. The first and second doses should be the injectable vaccine, the academy said.

Dr. Melinda Wharton, the CDC’s chief of childhood vaccines and preventable diseases, said the agency is investigating one report from 1998 of a child that got polio after being given the half-oral, half-injectable schedule. She said the case had not been confirmed. Dr. Michael Gerber, a pediatrician in Bethesda, Md., and a member of the pediatrics academy’s infectious diseases committee, said any such risk is miniscule.

But to Informed Parents Against VAAP, a group of parents whose children contracted vaccine-associated paralytic polio, even a miniscule chance of infection is too much.

“While the risk is small, why should we have any cases?” said John Salamone, a member of the group whose 9-year old son contracted polio from the oral vaccine in 1991.

Editor’s Note:- As you may recall, for the past several years (before the CDC recommendation) every time I saw a parent with a very young baby or a pregnant woman, I would go over and tell them about the “evils” of the oral vaccine. Imploring them to tell their pediatrician to give the baby the Salk – the injectable – vaccine. Almost all that I spoke to said they never knew that there was a slight possibility of the baby contracting paralytic polio from the oral vaccine and thanked me. In 1998, we had a case of a baby girl in Orlando coming down with a very severe case of paralytic polio from the oral. I am very thankful that now there will be NO babies (or others) contracting polio from the oral vaccine.

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As Spring and vacation time is fast approaching, the following should be of help to us.

Reprinted from Colorado Post-Polio Connections, Spring, 1999

Air Travel Tips for Wheelchair

Or Scooter Users

The key to a safe and comfortable trip is planning.

When Making Airline Reservations:

1. Make your reservation as far in advance as possible.

2. Tell the reservations person that you will be traveling with a wheelchair or scooter.

3. Inform them if you need assistance in boarding (an aisle chair to get to your seat)*.

4. If it is a long flight and you are able to use a standard plane restroom but are unable to walk to the restroom ask that they make an aisle chair available to you during the flight.

5. Always confirm that they have a record of your requests 48 hours prior to departure.

6. Some of the newer planes have lift up arms on some of the aisles. Ask about them and request to be seated there if they are available. It makes transferring easier.

*NOTE: An aisle chair is a narrow straight back chair with wheels underneath. It is designed to fit down the aisle of an airplane and is used to assist passengers that cannot walk.

When You Get to the Airport:

1. Arrive early.

2. Always check your chair or scooter at the boarding gate and request it be brought back to you at the gate when you arrive.

3. It is suggested that you use gel or foam filled batteries in your scooter or power chair and carry the paper-work on the batteries with you in case any questions arise.*

4. You can request that your fold up wheelchair be stowed in the on board coat closet. Note – there is usually only room for one wheelchair and the service is available on a first come basis, so you should arrive early to make your request.

5. Make sure your name and address is on your equipment and that it has a gate delivery tag if it is being stowed below.

6. If you have to change planes request that your own equipment be returned for the layover.

7. DAMAGE CONTROL – Remove seat cushion and any other parts that could easily become separated from the chair. Take these items into the cabin with you. Also, tape clear instructions on scooters or power chairs on how the batteries are disconnected and for any other disassembly or prep for transport. (Remember – even if you are available to give instructions the crew at the other end didn’t see how it came apart.)

8. If you need assistance transferring to the plane seat, take responsibility for yourself and tell the staff how to help you or pick you up, etc. Yes, they should be trained, but you are always safer not assuming anything.

9. Before landing remind flight attendant that you will need your equipment brought to the gate so they can radio ahead to make the arrangements.

10.If you have any problems or damage ask to speak to the “Complaint Resolution Officer” (CRO).

11. IF you are traveling with a scooter or power chair make sure you arrange for transportation that will accommodate your equipment upon arrival.

*NOTE to Item “3”: Standard acid filled batteries will be removed by ground crew and packed in special containers for transport.

This information was provided by Access-Able Travel Source, the free Internet information service for travelers with disabilities, P.O. Box 1796, Wheat Ridge, CO 80034.

Website: http:llwww.accessable.com; Email: carol@access-able.com; Phone: 303-232-2979

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For 2000

FIDGET YOUR WAY SLIM

Fidgeting may be a perfect way to lose weight according to a recent study. Sixteen people volunteered to stuff themselves with one thousand extra calories a day for eight weeks. At the end some of the participants had gained as much a 16 pounds, whole others had gained as little as 2 pounds. The difference, the researchers claim, was the “fidget factor.” The fidget factor is some sort of physical activity that the low-weight gainers did during the day. It could be as simple as fidgeting or moving around or just being a little restless. This helps explain why some people seem to relentlessly gain weight and others stay slim while eating the same diet. It wasn’t long, exhaustive exercise that made the difference -- it was small fidgety movements that separated the two groups. The take-home message of the study is that every little motion counts. It looks like the more you do, even in small activities, the more it counts in controlling weight.

The foregoing was from the Volusia/ Flagler CFIDS/FMS Support Group newsletter of Jan. 2000– The Lighthouse.

EDITOR’S NOTE:- I don’t know about

this – I’m always fidgeting and moving about so, according to this, I should be as thin as a rail and, unfortunately, I’M NOT. However, I’ll try “fidgeting” a little more and let you know what happens.

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DUES FOR 2000:- Please take a look at your mailing label - on it you’ll see the month and year we received your 1999 dues, i.e., 01/1999 means it was received in January 1999, so your 2000 dues was due in January 2000. If your mailing label has the year first and then the month, i.e., 1999/01 it means that you indicated to us in January 1999 that you wanted to receive the newsletter but paid no dues. That’s OK as we still believe that anyone who wants information should receive it – but we do need you to return the tear sheet with either the “Dues” box checked or the “Keep me on the Mailing List” box checked.

Your dues covers the supplies we need to send out the information packets to all inquiring about Post-Polio Syndrome, any other correspondence we do, and postage for publicity and for the out-of-country (33) newsletters that we send out. We’re fortunate in that the “Free Matter for the Blind and Physically Handicapped” status takes care of the postage for the over 450 newsletters sent out within the United States. We network with approximately 60 other support groups throughout the United States, some 40 of these reciprocate by sending us their newsletters. We receive as many dues checks from our out-of-state members as we do from our Florida members. So, please check your mailing label and return the tear sheet if your date is due. We really need your support now more than ever. Just to keep you advised, in addition to the previously Our newsletter also goes to support groups in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and England. In addition, our newsletter goes to Brazil, England, France, Israel, Lebanon, Sweden, Taiwan and Wales.

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WHEN YOU MOVE PLEASE be sure to send us your new address. Sometimes the post-office will return the newsletter to us with a “forwarding period expired” notice on the front with your new address but most of the time they are just returned to us with “address unknown” on it. SO, if you want to continue receiving the newsletter it is UP TO YOU to make sure we have your new address.

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CONDOLENCES

It is with a heavy heart that we tell you two of our members have recently passed away:- Evangeline Wells of Paisley, FL and our co-Treasurer and charter member, Donald Rolfe of Deltona, FL. We wish both families only joyful occasions from now on. It was a privilege knowing both Evangeline and Donald.

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Reprinted from Post Polio Support Group of Sonoma County, January-February 2000

MANAGING YOUR MEDICATIONS

With Judy Shigemitsu, Pharm.D.

Reported by Mary Clarke Atwood

Editorial Assistance by

V. Duboucheron & J. Shigemitsu

The Rancho Los Amigos Post-Polio Support Group was privileged to hear drug expert, Judy Shigernitsu, Pharm. D.

She is a very popular speaker and will be featured again at the September 25, 1999, meeting. For the past 17 years she has been a staff pharmacist at Torrance Memorial Medical Center (near Los Angeles). Pharmacy must be “in her blood” since she is the third generation pharmacist in her family to graduate from the University of California (USC). Her daughter (fourth generation) is now following in her footsteps at USC.

This report provides some under-standing of medications (meds) and their effects on the human body. Included are over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals, prescription medications, and herbs. The concluding section provides many tips for managing medications.

The Basics

In order to understand medications and their effects it is best to consider some basics:

* All medications, including prescriptions, over-the-counter, and herbs, contain a chemical that can be potentially dangerous. The active chemical in the product is the important factor, whether it is a root, leaf, stalk, etc.

* The body absorbs these chemicals in the lower stomach and upper intestine.

* Most drugs are then metabolized through the liver.

* As a person ages they become more sensitive to medications because:

1. Some muscle mass changes to fat.

2. Kidney function slows down.

Generic versus Brand Name Drugs

A generic drug is supposed to contain the same bioavailability of com-pounds as a brand/trade drug. So if your body can tolerate the generics, the necessary chemicals will be absorbed. When generic drugs first became avail-able there were many small manufacturers; now many of these companies are out of business. Currently there are many large pharmaceutical companies that also have their own generic brands. In some cases they market the same product, but under a different label.

OTCs

When selecting over-the-counter drugs, find the product that works for you. Read beyond the fancy words; find and compare the basic active ingredients.

When a package says “aspirin-free”, it usually means it contains the active ingredient that is in Tylenol. Standard minimum doses are:

* 325 mg. Tylenol (acetaminophen) used for fever and pain

* 325 mg. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) used as anti-inflammatory, analgesic or anti-platelet

* 200 mg. Motrin (ibuprofen) used as anti-inflammatory and pain relief.

Herbs

If herbs had not been used long ago we wouldn’t have the drugs we have today. It is important to see how any drug works for the individual. Dr. Shigemitsu cautions, “Don’t read every testimonial for belief”. She also cautions that many herbs are not purified.

Whether they are prescription medications, or OTCs, or herbs, realize that “more” may not be “better”. In addition to the increased possibilities of side effects, some drugs have a narrow margin of safety and too much could be toxic.

Self Help

1. Learn about your medications. Always read the label and auxiliary labels on a package or bottle.

* Names: generic and brand

* Dosage and frequency

* Indication: what it is being used for

* Special instructions for administration and storage

* Length of therapy

* Possible side effects

* Potential interactions with food or other medications

2. Remember to take medication as prescribed.

* Find a good method of remembering to take your medications.

* When taking pills, always be in an upright position and take them with 2-4 ounces of water.

* If you think a medication is causing a side effect or is ineffective, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before stopping. It may be harmful to stop some medications suddenly. Perhaps the dose may need to be adjusted to your body’s response.

* Plan re-fills early enough to avoid missing doses.

3. Periodically review with your doctor all your prescriptions, OTCs, and herbs.

* About any restrictions (alcohol, driving, etc.)

* About change in color/shape of medication.

* If new medication is similar to any current meds

4. Find one good pharmacy – consider these factors:

* Convenient location, especially for re-fills.

* Pharmacist with whom you are comfortable – someone who will talk with you and explain things (California pharmacy law now requires a consultation on each drug that is new for the patient.)

* Someone who will keep your records.

* Cost.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask:

* For easy-open tops.

* About compliance aids (charts, calendars, logs, and devices).

* About timing doses (morning, with meals, etc.).

6. Don’t be afraid to tell the doctor:

* If you have trouble swallowing.

* If you have trouble remembering the dosage schedule.

* When warning signs appear.

7. Avoid these pitfalls:

* Borrowing or trying someone else’s meds.

* Self-medicating with extra dose or skipping dose.

* Stopping a medication without checking with the doctor.

* Use of multiple pharmacies (those which don’t maintain your complete record).

* Neglecting to tell each doctor your full history.

* Neglecting to update your pharmacist on allergies and medical conditions.

CONCLUSION

A person can become a better consumer of medicinal products by reading labels and understanding that all medications contain chemicals that can be potentially dangerous. Whether these medications are prescription, over-the-counter, or herbal preparations the active chemicals will be absorbed by the body and then metabolized through the liver. It is wise to periodically review with your doctor or pharmacist all products you are currently using.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

1. “Food and Drug Interactions” is a 14 page booklet produced by the National Consumers League in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is available online at www.ncinet.org or by mail. If you would like a hard copy of the booklet, please send $2 for postage and handling to the National Consumers League, 1701 K Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006.

2. The Consumer Information Center has free booklets found under the heading – “Drugs & Health Aids” at: www.pueblo.gsa.gov -- or call toll-free: 1-888-8783256 to request a free catalog.

3. New Mexico State University – “Effects of Foods and Nutrients on Drugs” at:

www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs_e/e-507.html

Taken from: Rancho Los Amigos Post-Polio Support Group Newsletter – July 1999

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The following has been sent to me several times through my e-mail ---

EIGHT GIFTS THAT

DON’T COST A CENT

THE GIFT OF LISTENING

But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.

THE GIFT OF AFFECTION

Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER

Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, “I love to laugh with you”.

THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE

It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.

THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT

A simple and sincere, “You look great in red”, “You did a super job” or “That was a wonderful meal” can make someone’s day.

THE GIFT OF A FAVOR

Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.

THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE

There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION

The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, really it’s not that hard to say, “Hello” or “Thank You”.

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GIFTS YOU CAN GIVE

YEAR ROUND

THE GIFT OF PRAISE

Appropriate mention, right in front of the other fellow, of superior qualities or of a job or deeds well done.

THE GIFT OF CONSIDERATION

Putting yourself in the other’s shoes and thus providing your genuine under-standing of his side of the case.

THE GIFT OF CONCESSION

Humbly saying at just the right point, “I am sorry, you are right and I am wrong.”

THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE

Never forgetting to say “Thank You” and never failing to mean it.

THE GIFT OF ATTENTION

When the other fellow speaks, listen attentively. If his words are directed to you personally, meet his eye squarely.

THE GIFT OF INSPIRATION

Plant seeds of courage and action in the other person’s heart.

THE GIFT OF PERSONAL PRESENCE

In sickness, in trouble, or in great joy, there is nothing quite equal to your personal expression of sympathy or congratulations.

Resolve to give these gifts each day. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you will receive in return.

The author is unknown.

Both of these “GIFT” thoughts were in Second Time Around, the Boca Area Post Polio Group’s December 1999, Vol 2, Issue 12, newsletter.

Thank you Boca…..

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Reprinted from Second Time Around, Boca Area Post Polio Group, January 2000, Volume 3, Issue 1; reprinted from The Post Standard, Tues., Nov. 2, 1999, Syracuse, New York

Suspected Polio Dismays Experts

Zachary Strain of Madison should not have received an

oral vaccine, national specialists say.

By Glenn Coin, Staff Writer

The Madison County baby suspected of getting polio from a vaccine should never have received that vaccine, national immunization experts say.

The federal government and two of the nation’s largest medical groups recommended in January that doctors stop giving the oral polio vaccine to infants 4 months and younger. The groups said infants should receive injections of polio vaccine, which contains a dead polio virus and cannot cause polio.

Zachary Strain of Madison was 2 months old this spring when he received the oral vaccine, which causes polio in a handful of the millions of children who receive the oral vaccine each year. He is mostly paralyzed from the neck down with what doctors believe to be polio caused by the vaccine.

“This boy was immunized in (the spring) of ’99, and by that point it certainly was clear that he should not have received oral polio,” said Dr. Leonard Weiner, chairman of pediatrics and director of pediatric infectious disease at SUNY Health Sciences Center.

“The recommendations are clear. There may have been some valid reason in the mind of this physician in not following that recommendation, although I’m not sure frankly what that could be,” said Weiner, who is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases.

The doctor who gave the vaccine, Dr. Mark Ohl, works for Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton. Hospital spokesman Mike Ogden said neither Ohl nor any hospital official would discuss the Strain case.

“We’re just not going to comment on this case or the delivery of any care that was given,” Ogden said.

Zachary received the vaccine in late May, when he was 2 months old.

A couple of weeks later, he developed a fever and then went limp, said his parents, Kristen and Patrick Strain of Madison.

The Strains just learned last week that 2-month-olds were not supposed to get the oral polio vaccine. They say that they never knew that the vaccine could cause polio or that young infants were not supposed to receive it. They said Ohl did not discuss the risks of the vaccine with them.

“I don’t think Zachary would be here today if we were well-informed and we knew the consequences,” Patrick Strain said Monday at University Hospital.

Zachary has been at the hospital since June 10. The Strains hope to take him home soon, but they need to wait until at least six nurses are available who can care for Zachary, who is on a respirator and needs 24-hour nursing care.

Zachary can move his head and has slight movement in his limbs. Doctors say they don’t expect him to approve significantly.

The Strains say they are not angry at Ohl.

“He has been an excellent doctor for all of us,” Patrick Strain said. “There may have been a mistake.”

The Strains have taken their 3-year-old daughter, Ashley, to Ohl since their son was vaccinated. But no one broached the topic of Zachary’s vaccine, the Strains said.

Kristin Strain said Ohl stopped recently at the Byrne Dairy in Hamilton where she works. As she showed the doctor photos of her son, Strain said, Ohl “got teary-eyed.”

“He feels bad, without a doubt,” she said.

Doctors at University Hospital suspect that Zachary has polio. Although laboratory tests were inconclusive, Zachary shows the classic signs of polio, and those symptoms began a few weeks after he received the polio vaccine.

If a federal panel decides that Zachary has polio caused by the vaccine, his family could receive money to help pay for his care. The average award this year for victims of polio and other vaccines was 1.4 million from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The program was set up in 1988 to help victims of vaccines.

The Strains said they are looking into the compensation program, and are also planning to talk to an attorney to see if they should file a lawsuit.

“It’s going to be an expensive ride taking care of him,” Patrick Strain said.

Still Not Certain

Doctors are still not certain Zachary has polio. They have not found the polio virus in any samples taken from Zachary. But they say the paralysis that struck Zachary so soon after the vaccine is a classic symptom of polio.

That would probably be enough to qualify the Strains for compensation in the federal program, said Dr. Larry Pickering, director of Center for Pediatric Research in Norfolk, Va.

“I think if you have a child who has paralysis that goes beyond 60 days associated…. With the vaccine, they have a good chance of entering the compensation program and being compensated,” said Pickering, who is editor of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ manual on immunizations and infectious diseases.

In January, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians jointly issued new vaccination guidelines.

They said that children should not receive oral polio at 2 and 4 months, but should get shots instead. The recommendations said that oral polio could be used for the third and fourth vaccine doses, which are given at 12 to 18 months and 4 to 6 years, respectively.

As of next year, however, the oral vaccine will be eliminated and children will receive four injections.

The oral vaccine causes polio in about one in every 2.4 million doses given, according to the CDC. In 2-month-olds, however, the risk is three times as high – about 1 in 800,000.

Although the formal recommendations were made in January, doctors have for several years been cutting back on the use of oral vaccine. In 1996, 94 per cent of the vaccine purchased by doctors through a special federal program was oral vaccine, according to the CDC. This year, only 31 per cent was oral vaccine.

As the use of oral vaccine has dropped, so have the number of cases of polio caused by vaccine. In the 1980s and early 1990s, eight to ten children got polio from the vaccine every year, according to CDC figures. Last year, there was only one confirmed case.

“We have zero confirmed cases for 1999,” said Dr. Rebecca Prevots, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s National Immunization Program.

Prevots said four suspected cases from 1999 are being investigated. Federal officials could not confirm whether Zachary’s case is one of them because they cannot release medical information on individual people.

A New York State Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed that Zachary’s case has been passed on to the CDC.

The Strains hold out hope that Zachary will improve. And they wonder why their son was given the vaccine that may have paralyzed him for life.

Why so long?

“If they have known for so long it’s so bad,” Kristen Strain said, “why has it taken so long for all these doctors to stop using it?”

Pickering said it was unusual for doctors to still be using oral polio vaccine in 1999. But he said some doctors may have just trusted the vaccine that has helped wipe out polio in the Western Hemisphere.

“Oral polio has been utilized in this country for a long time, and it has been very successful in eradicating polio in the United States,” Pickering said. “There are many physicians who have used oral polio their whole lives, have it had problems with it, have seen very good immunity, and they feel it is a safe and acceptable method of preventing polio.”

Editor’s Note:- The doctors that Dr. Pickering mentioned were very lucky to have gone through their entire physicianhood and never coming into contact with vaccine polio victim. Their patients were very fortunate too. Unfortunately those few (8-10) each year that did come down with polio will be struggling all their lives with problems that could have been avoided by their being given the Salk (dead) vaccine.

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Reprinted from Post Polio Partners, Weslaco, TX, January 20000

ACCEPTING PPS DOES NOT MEAN GIVING UP,

DOES NOT MEAN QUITTING

Accepting PPS does not mean giving up, does not mean quitting. It just means “Accepting” the changes, the adjustments. So today you’re having a bad day, huh? Then be good to yourself. Anything you can’t get done today can wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the next week, or even the next month!

Watch a movie -- even though you probably won’t stay awake for all of it.

Read a book -- even though you probably won’t remember what it's about.

Write a letter to a friend -- just think of the fun they’ll have trying to decipher it (of course I had to look up decipher).

Laugh at the silly things you do rather than get upset about them…

ê So what if you just spent $200 at the grocery store and bought nothing of value -- you got there, right? And, even better, you got back home!

ê So what if you left the clothes in the washer for over a week? You washed them, just forgot to dry them.

ê So what if you put that hot cup of tea you just made in the refrigerator -- you’ll find it the next time you go there for the dishwashing soap.

ê When you set up the VCR for your hubby’s favorite show (bravo just for that) and find you recorded the weather channel, just tell him that you wanted him to be informed for his golf league.

ê If you’re on the net and in chat and you suddenly forget what you were going to say, just pretend there’s a lag. If you really get lost in your thoughts (kinda comatose), just say you got disconnected.

Remember that its okay to fall -- just brush yourself off and get right back up.

Cry when you need to, laugh whenever you can, take it one day at a time.

Set a goal, no matter how small it seems; the success of reaching that goal is worthwhile.

Author Unknown

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(From Polio Outreach of Washington, Nov/Dec 1999)

Social Security online

On Monday, February 14, 2000, the Daytona News-Journal had an article which, in part, stated that Social Security recipients will be able to keep up with the latest changes in benefits and rules through a new electronic newsletter the government will offer starting March 1.

E-mail subscribers will be able to customize information they receive in the free monthly updates from the Social Security Administration.

You might choose to get news about benefits, including announcements of Social Security’s annual cost-of-living raises, for example.

The Internet address is:

http://www.ssa.gov/enews.

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DID YOU KNOW. . . .

Floridians …. Did you know that you have the option of contributing $1. to the Transportation Disadvantaged Fund every time you renew your vehicle registrations? Simply check this option on the renewal card and include an additional $1 with your fee. If you prorated your $1 over a period of one year, this will be a very nominal amount for this cause. Would you please remember the magnitude of this amount over that one year’s time if you multiplied your $1 times the number of others making this voluntary contribution?

SPREAD THE WORD –

TRANSPORTATION

DISADVANTAGED!!!

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THIS I BELIEVE

I am a person who happens to have a disability

More to the point, I am a person who is able to acknowledge my feelings about my life and my physical condition.

I can be sad and angry when it is appropriate, but I will not live with pity and bitterness.

I will seek the positive, look forward to tomorrow, and continue to do the things I enjoy.

I will accept my changing circumstances and adapt to the different demands in my life.

I will not judge myself or others too harshly.

I will not dwell on the past.

I know the cost of holding onto anger, bitterness, and resentment. I have the power to choose not to continue those feelings.

I recognize that I am vulnerable.

I will not give up on myself.

I will continue to do what I can with what I have each day and, should those abilities be lost to me, I will have few regrets.

I will find new ways to live and grow in the present.

More than SURVIVE –

I WILL THRIVE!!!

Editor’s Note:- The foregoing poem is most apropos to those of us undergoing the trials and tribulations of Post-Polio Syndrome

Reprinted from Antelope Valley Polio Survivors, January-February 2000, Volume 7, Issue 1, as originally found in Antelope Valley AMPUTEE CONNECTION, November 1999

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Reprinted from USA Weekend – Feb 4-6, 2000

FIVE easy ways to help your heart

Little changes, big results.

February is American Heart Month, so there’s no better time to learn to protect yourself from the nation’s No. 1 killer.

One of the most important lessons: Avoiding heart disease is not necessarily a big deal. In fact, you can disease-proof your heart quickly and easily just be making small changes in your everyday life. Over time, these tweaks can pay off big where your heart is concerned.

Here are five simple changes.

► Brush and floss. Your dentist is always after you to floss regularly to keep teeth and gums healthy. Here’s another reason to heed the dentist’s advice: Regular flossing for at least 1 to 2 minutes a day is one of the best preventers of gum disease, which can cause oral bacteria to enter your bloodstream and in turn narrow blood vessels, increase blood clots and put you at greater risk of a heart attack.

► Pick these fruits. To keep your diet high in natural salicylates (a main ingredient in aspirin that helps prevent heart attacks), eat more oranges, raspberries, apricots and cherries. For additional salicylates, season your food with cinnamon, curry, cayenne and thyme.

► Walk a little further. In a study of 2,600 men, researchers at the University of Texas found that those who walked 1- 1/2 miles a day had half the heart-attack risk of those who walked only a quarter-mile. If you don’t take a walk every day, you should. And when you do, start adding 5 minutes – the average time it takes to walk a quarter-mile – to your walk every two weeks. Keep adding 5 minutes until you’re walking two miles a day. <

12 Eclipse Trail / Ormond Beach, FL 32174 / 904 676-2435

E-Mail:- bgold@iag.net - Web Site:- iag.net/~bgold/polio.htm

MARCH/APRIL 2000

WE WISH ALL OUR FRIENDS

A VERY GREEN ST. PATRICK'S DAY

A MOST HAPPY EASTER

-and-

A SESSA (SWEET) PASSOVER

MEETING NOTICE