Childhood Braces

I mentioned the last time about my braces. My leg brace went to my knee, it was attached to a shoe, ugly brown shoes, They had to be a certain type of shoe. I guess cute shoes weren't strong enough. I'm not sure how old I was around 6 or 7. I was able to get my brace attached to a saddle shoe. I was so excited.
That reminds me of the struggle. The struggle to put on my own socks. This was before stretch socks. My mom and Jeanne, mostly Jeanne, my mom was more likely to help me. Haha! I remember struggling to put my socks on, must have been on weekends and summer otherwise I would have missed school. I was told it would take up to an hour to get them on. But, I was bound and determine to get them on so I could go outside and play. This was around age 8. To my family reading this; it's when we lived on 45th Street. In the big house. I kind of remember ages by the house we lived in. 

Anyway I was told years later that mom and Jeanne would often cry as soon as I went outside. So I remember one day getting all of my braces on. Leg,  both wrists, and back brace the one that had a bar going up the back of my neck and held my head straight, and helped me stand up straight. I don't think I wore my stomach and back brace at the same time.
I was walking 3 houses down to my friends house. Well about 1 house down, I tripped over a crack
in the sidewalk. Well, when I fell it was like a tree, TIMBER. Face plant right into the sidewalk. The brace kept me from turning my head. My arms aren't strong enough to catch me. I guess a neighbor saw me fall, he came out and helped me up. Jeanne was on her way out to get me as she saw me go down,  The neighbor bawled her out, saying how can you let her go out by herself. She said ," What do you expect us to do make her stay inside all the time. She has to learn to do things by herself."
I am so happy that God put people in my life who were strong and didn't give in to making my life more comfortable at the time.

As I have looked back over my life, God has been with me every step and fall of my life. He has protected me when I have fallen, I've never had anything more than a bloody nose.
When I fell that time, a lesson was learned. Make sure she picks her feet up. I  also new there was a crack in the sidewalk, be aware. Be aware of all surroundings.
After I was able to get rid of that brace. Jeanne wondered how she should help me up if I fell again. Because she always helped me up by grabbing a hold of the brace.
She asked the doctor. "He said, she has a pretty good head of hair."  I can hear all the gasps.
I had thick hair usually in a pony tail. So he suggested, Hold on to her hair help her get to her knees and then up to her feet. Guess what it worked. I had really weak arms, the doctors didn't want me being lifted up under my arms. Even later in life , when no one was helping me get up. I was able to get to my knees and then to my feet.

My favorite scripture  Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

POLIO: FROM CHILDHOOD TO GRANDMAHOOD: Family history and school memories.

POLIO: FROM CHILDHOOD TO GRANDMAHOOD: Family history and school memories.: Well to continue where I left off. While I was in the hospital I have very few memories. I know I didn't have a lot of visitors. When so...

Family history and school memories.

Well to continue where I left off.

While I was in the hospital I have very few memories. I know I didn't have a lot of visitors. When someone in the family finally did come to visit, the Hospital Administrator bawled her out for not being there sooner. I was told this. My family was a mess at the time. Apparently my brother and I were in a foster home waiting to be adopted by the family, when I got sick. 

I am debating going into the family dynamic now, if I don't you will have many questions.
So get your popcorn ready it's like a soap opera. 
My mom Rosie left home at 16 she was the daughter of an Itinerant Preacher. I am sad to say I don't know much about her family life.  I don't know when it was but at some point she met a woman who became like a sister to her. Her name is Jeanne.  My mom was accepted into Jeanne's loving family.  My mom's jobs usually were working at bars and night clubs in San Diego. Needless to say she hooked up with a lot of Sailors. She gave up several children for adoption. I will talk about that later on. Because I did find some of my brothers.

 Well then I was born and 18 months later my brother Larry was born. My mom had settled down with Larry's dad and we were a happy family from what I remember and can tell from pictures and what I've been told. 
I was raised to believe that Larry and I had the same father. I didn't find out the truth until years later. He had already died. My mom and Larry's dad got divorced. So Jeanne and my mom, Larry and I moved in together.
I'm going to be careful here, I'm not sure who knows and don't want any surprises. 

Jeanne had gone away, my mom thought it would be best to put Larry and I up for adoption. So we were in the home of family friends as foster kids they planned to adopt us. I'm not sure how legal all of this was.  Just know if Jeanne had been around this never would have happened. She loved us. I know my mom loved us too. She just didn't know how to be a mom. I forgave my mom a long time ago. More about this later. So as I told you before we were at the foster families house when I contracted Polio.
Up above I mentioned someone coming to the hospital finally to visit me. And she got bawled out because it had taken so long. I don't know how long it was but Jeanne came to see me as soon as she could.

OK flash forward. 

I remember 
There was a girl in the room with me. Her parents came and had a little birthday party for her. I do remember crying because I had no visitors. 

That's all the memories I have until I'm 6 and starting first grade. I missed Kindergarten because of the hospitalization and recovery.
I was so excited to go to school. I was going to attend a school for handicapped children. It was called Sunshine School. It was a regular elementary school. But, all the kids had some sort of physical disability. The disabilities ranged from children with no limbs. see note from Salem Press.

The widespread use of thalidomide, a drug that was prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950's as a sleep aid and as relief from morning sickness, led to birth disorders among thousands of children around the globe.

There were kids with Cerebral Palsy, deaf, blind, and many with Polio. Now the ones with Polio were in different stages. From wheel chair bound with full leg braces hooked up at the waist. To kids on crutches with full leg braces to me a brace on my right leg because that leg is shorter. I also had braces on each hand. The early ones went to my elbows eventually they were just on my wrists. I also had one like a corset. To hold my stomach muscles in and train them. It never worked. I remember wearing this next brace because I absolutely hated it. I became a brat when I had to put it on. But, I don't think I ever wore to school, just after school and weekends and summer I think. A body brace that went around my waist with metal bars up my chest and back to help me stand up straight, then it was attached to a neck brace to hold my head straight so it didn't drop forward. The whole thing was to help me have good posture and to retrain those muscles to work properly. The thing with the neck brace was I couldn't turn my head . So needless to say when I fell it was like a tree. My arms are not strong enough to catch my fall. So when I fall it's straight and hard. It's a miracle I have never had a broken nose or any broken bones.
So anyway this school was really awesome. There were a lot of aids in the school to help some of the kids that needed it. But, most of these kids were very independent. I was very blessed to have the mobility I had. I was never in a wheel chair. My leg brace was the first to go. I only needed it for a few years.
We played kick ball the kids who couldn't kick the ball would throw it or had a friend kick for them then they would wheel themselves to the base, if they weren't able to, an aide would push them.
My best friend was Linda she had Polio too. She was in a wheel chair she had thigh high braces that she could lock at the knees so she could stand or walk on crutches which she did every day as part of her therapy. But, when she was in her wheelchair there was no one who could go as fast as her. When we were in the 4Th grade they were letting students go to the elementary school next to us to integrate with the "normal" kids. Linda and I got to go over for afternoons 2 days a week. We went for lunch, recess, and band. I played the Xylophone she played the flute. She had no problems with her hands. I had no problems with my legs. We were a great team.

I got picked up from school 3 days a week by the Red Cross to go to Children's Hospital for PT and OT. When therapy was over they drove me home. By the way these people always smoked, I have always hated cigarette smoke. Pretty much my whole family smoked. You just put up with it in those days. Anyway coming home from therapy one day I saw the neighbor kids outside playing I was embarrassed for them to see me in this car with a great big red cross painted on the car. So when I got out, they said," hey what are you doing in that car?" I said, "oh I volunteer at the hospital." They believed me, never asked again. ha ha God has forgiven me for my lies.
I remember a day in Nov. we were at our school on the playground. We heard the teachers calling everyone inside. As we went inside I noticed the adults were all upset, some of them were even crying. When we were all inside. The Principal came over the loud speaker and told us President Kennedy had been killed. I remember being nervous, because we had always practiced duck and cover in those days. Our neighbor had a bomb shelter. We had an emergency plan, all of this was due to the Cubans and the fear of being bombed. So I didn't know if that's why he was killed, it was a big worry to a child.

My school years were very happy ones. I loved my school, my friends and my teachers. I had my first crush on a boy. I was a happy child. I had the childhood illnesses with my brother. Mumps, measles, chicken pox. My brother and I got our tonsils taken out at the same time in the same hospital room.
I attended Sunshine School through half of my 6Th grade year. It was decided that I needed to go to a regular school so I could get use to kids without disabilities. Basically the real world. Getting ready for Jr. High and High School.
That's a lot for one day.

POLIO: FROM CHILDHOOD TO GRANDMAHOOD: The Polio Early Days part 2

POLIO: FROM CHILDHOOD TO GRANDMAHOOD: The Polio Early Days part 2: A few memories from Children's Hospital. One of the therapies they administered to help loosen my muscles was placing hot wet wool clo...

The Polio Early Days part 2

A few memories from Children's Hospital.
One of the therapies they administered to help loosen my muscles was placing hot wet wool cloths on my limbs. I remember the nurses taking these out of the container with tongs and then placing them on my body. I also remember screaming. To this day I can't stand the smell of wet wool. It took me awhile to figure out why and one day the association hit me. Growing up in San Diego my step dad was in the Navy he would always bring home these woolen blankets, we called them Navy blankets, maybe that's what was supplied on the ships I'm not sure. Just remembering those getting wet will cause me to gag.
This was part of the Sister Kenny treatment. This was a highly controversial treatment. Here's some excerpts from her book. And They Shall Walk
Sister Kenny Hot Packs for Polio Treatment
Countless polio survivors benefited from the Kenny treatment. Alan Alda(Polio, 1943) credits the Kenny treatment as well as his mother Joan for his total recovery. While Mia Farrow (Polio, 1954) defined her daily hot pack treatments in one word, "loathsome."
Elizabeth Kenny was a young Australian bush nurse when she saw her first patient who had the symptoms of a disease that was unknown to her. The advise from her mentor and friend, Dr. Aeneas McDonnell, via telegram was: Infantile paralysis. No known treatment. Do the best you can with the symptoms presenting themselves. She tried various ways to relieve the pain and relax the tightened muscles. Kenny says: "At last I tore a blanket made from soft Australian wool into suitable strips and wrung them out of boiling water. These I wrapped gently about the poor, tortured muscles. The whimpering of the child ceased almost immediately, and after a few more applications her eyes closed slowly and she fell asleep." Later, when the little 2 year old girl awoke, she called out for more "rags." [And They Shall Walk, p. 24] I don't know about that little girl. I don't remember falling asleep and I'm quite sure I didn't cry out for more.
Another book about her and her treatments called A Paralyzing Fear by Nina Seavey says
We owe much gratitude to Elizabeth Kenny for her ability and willingness to re-evaluate the old methods of polio treatment. The use of splints and casts to immobilize polio paralyzed limbs gave way to physical therapy and water therapies, as well as the Kenny method of polio treatment which she shared with us all. Well I had a mixture of both. I had water therapy and physical therapy. But, I also wore several braces.
If you're interested there is an old movie about her life I just happened to see that it was on TV one night. I think it was on TCM. It's called Sister Kenny.
I guess I should tell you I don't know how long I was actually paralyzed. One thing I remember during that time was crying. I could feel the tears on my face but I couldn't move my arms to wipe my eyes. Isn't it strange what a 4 yr old remembers.
Another treatment I remember wasn't painful just uncomfortable. By this time I was able to move. My legs have always been the strongest part of my body. But, I had weak heel cords. Which means I couldn't put my foot flat on the floor. If it wasn't fixed I would be walking around on tip toes. So what they did at night was scoot me to the foot board of the bed and tie my feet flat against a board. So my toes were straight up. Well this meant I had to sleep on my back all night. Well one night I was bound and determined to sleep on my stomach. So I wiggled and wiggled I don't know for how long but, I finally broke a safety pin that was holding the ties on one of my feet. I got that one off and was able to at least lay on my side. Probably the best night nights sleep I had in a long time. Well, I paid for it in the morning. The nurses were not happy with me.
That's enough for today.