King, Jean - Dallas County

General Comments :

In 1945, I was a student of Nursing at the Univ. of Minn., Minneapolis. It was a severe year of polio in the Twin Cities. My two nephews, 9 and 11, begged to go swimming that summer, and finally broke their Mother to let them go. When they did not return when told, she went to the pool only to find that it was closed. She notified the police, and they found their bikes at the Mississippi River where people fished. Their bodies were found down river. I cursed polio, as I felt polio had killed those young boys as surely as if they had had the disease.

In 1954, I worked as a nurse in the isolation ward at Iowa Methodist Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa, 3 to 11 shift for several weeks that summer. It hurt to have parents bring their children to the isolation ward and to tell them they couldn't come in, and take their child - tell them I would take good care of them, knowing that possibly this would be the child that would never be the same again. Polio cases were high and the wards were full. One afternoon when I came on duty, I was asked to relieve on the post polio ward. No isolation technique was used there - gown, mask, etc. Three weeks later I had polio. There must have been a child still infectious that I took care of that afternoon. I was sent to Iowa Lutheran Hospital but they were full in the adult ward, so I was sent to Broadlawns Hospital. I got wonderful care, as they were not as crowded. I spent 4 weeks in the hospital. My children were 3 and 6 at the time. After it was assured they were not ill, a friend took the children. After I was home 2 weeks, I had to have my kids back even though I was not well enough to care for them. My involvement was on the left side. With treatment of scalding hot packs and exercise, I regained most of my strength. I had to replace my stick shift car for an automatic. Thank you for letting me tell my story.