Nargang (Neebel), Becky - Black Hawk County

Fear

I remember my parents became so quiet and still when they realized I couldn't raise my head off the floor.

Tell Us What you remember about the impact of polio

In 1956, I was 5 years old and about to start kindergarten. The memories are pretty vague but I do remember the spinal tap. It seemed as though an army of people were holding me down on the hospital cart in order to draw spinal fluid. I screamed and screamed and screamed. My toys were burned except for one stuffed animal that I wish I still had. The hospital put it through the sterilization process if I recall correctly. I think it was a rabbit and after being sterilized, the poor thing became quite mis-shapened. I hated to have my parents leave the hospital and I would cry for them for a long time. They started leaving me small gifts to open as they snuck out. They couldn't bear to hear me cry as they walked down the corridor toward home. I remember a few of the gifts - one a puzzle face, another - a nesting plastic barrel with the smallest barrel holding a kitty with a fiddle. Funny what we remember. The nurses would bring hot, wet, wool towels around to place on the patients in my ward. I will never forget the smell of hot, wet wool. I begged for them to put the towels on my back but they said I wasn't sick enough.

General Comments

That's all I remember of the time. Now, in 2007, I have been diagnosed with post-polio syndrome. I lived my whole life without any residual problems but now am experiencing the latent effects of polio. If you do not know about this syndrome, please research and educate yourselves. It caught me by surprise - muscle pain, debilitating fatigue and rapidly fatiguing muscles have changed my life in the 21st century though I had polio in the 20th. I urge everyone to find out more and talk to your doctors about it.