This Is Polio; No. 4; Those Who Wait

[Mother of child diagnosed with polio] Well, it's something that nobody will understand until they went through the same experience. Certainly an awful thing to have in front of you. [Host] The voice you have just heard is that of a mother whose child has infantile paralysis. In just a moment, you will hear other parents telling of their experiences when polio struck unexpectedly. This is Bill Ewing speaking and presenting another brief story about polio documented by tape recording through the cooperation of authorities at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. What do parents think and feel when they first discover that their child has polio? What about the critical days that follow? What adjustments do the parents have to make in their daily living? Listen now to this story as told by those who wait. First from a mother of four children, three of whom have polio.

[Mother] Well, I do know that it was in spite of everything sort of piling up at once and being terribly shocked by the fact that all three of the children had polio. We were greatly relieved to, well, to have such competent diagnosis and care and know that everything was being done for them here in Children's Hospital. [Host] I imagine there was a considerable worry, in spite of all that strain and concern and uncertainty about the whole situation, that made it a pretty terrible experience for you. [Mother] And that's right. It's, I don't know, it's the most devastating feeling. I mean, you feel like you have just absolutely lost, well, I don't know exactly. [Host] I know, it's difficult to express. I suppose you stayed right here at the hospital all during those first few days, is that

right? [Mother] That's right. [Host] Slept here at night? [Mother] MmHmm. [Host] On the davenport, I suppose. or in a chair? [Mother] Yes. [Host] Well, I think that's rather typical of most parents who have children here in critical condition. They stay right here every hour of the day and of the night. [Mother] That's right. And now, here is the way one father feels about it. [Father] Polio is a very feared disease. It was a great shock to us at the time. After bringing my daughter to the hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and seeing the great things that medical science is doing, it gives you a feeling of self-assurance that your daughter is going to be well. [Host] And when I asked one mother what she thought about during those difficult early days,.. [Mother] Well, in fact there's a lot goes through your mind. I guess, the various things wondering what the outcome of this will be, but,

although we thought that she may come out of it a cripple, we were very thankful to think that their life was spared. [Host] The more I question parents, the more I realize that the polio patient is not the only one who suffers. I talked with a father from Steubenville, Ohio. His 18 year old daughter had just graduated from high school and had taken a job in an office on the Ohio State University campus when she was stricken with polio. [Father] She was up here in a [inaudible] month; and then I think it was it was seven days or seven days. I think it was. We weren't allowed in to see her. And then, from then on in, it's just been, you know, that's as much as I know about it, that’s how they go. [Host] Just what happened first? What were her first symptoms? Do you know what...? [Father] One of the first symptoms, I'll tell you the truth, I never talk too much about it. Mothers talk, but I know that she had a cold and she told me she said she felt rotten and just sort of ached

all over and her fever was high and she just thought she had the grippe, at first. And in the evening, after the hours she worked at the university they thought that she just had the grippe. So I guess it was on a Thursday and she went to work and she started getting stiff and they took her over and put her in the hospital there, and then Friday they called my wife. And of course, that was the time I would have to be away from home, you know what I mean. And my wife let Ben go over to the playground there with some kids and she couldn't get him. And when I come home she said, you go get Ben, you got to go to Columbus. So I went over and got him. We brought him in, cleaned him up and we got ready and I got up here, why, by the time I get in that evening, five o'clock. Was about 11 o'clock around when we got up here. She just said that she was sort of numb in places, she started to stiffen up. And Friday they called my wife, wanted to know if they could take one of the, what do they call it, spinal

test or something, and my wife said she wanted to know what was wrong. And so they were taken up Friday evening, I guess she told them to go ahead and that's how they diagnosed she had polio, you know. [Host] Did you ever think about, much about polio before this happened? [Father] I never did, I'm telling you. [Host] Like most of us. We don't even think about it. [Father] 'Til it hits home. [Host] 'Til it hits home. [Father] You’re doggone right. Tell me one thing I don’t know. This is the suit I have wore for quite a while and I’m [inaudible]. it's one of a [inaudible] brown suit I had on. Between the doggone worrying maybe it's a worrying game, being up, you know, running up and down here, and then the rest of the stuff, that I’ve lost 60 pounds. [Host] Gee. [Father] I'm telling you, I’ve lost 60 pounds since Tootsie went sick. You know, my neighbors now, they don't know what to think. Well what are you going to do? [inaudible] worrying about everybody. And then if anybody ever told me, they never told me what they

go through. And I don't think they could tell you, you know, it hits home when it hits home. Why it’s really, really is something. I know my wife is just, the condition my wife’s in right now, of course you wouldn't do that before with asthma until [?] And now this, she just took so much of it that she just she just kept the place and she don’t think Tootsie's coming along fast enough. And I try to tell her, you have to have patience, and that's what's wrong with my wife. [Host] Do you have something of the same feeling that I do with respect to the future of this thing? You kind of wish you could do something to get this whole business stopped? [Father] I certainly do. [Host] With all the suffering that it causes, the victim and the parents, would you like to make a comment on that? [Father] I'd love to do something but, you know a man, in our shape, your shape or mine, I don’t think that there’s...only one thing we could do is go out and do anything we could for the March of Dimes, that I wish that I

was only as well off as some people in the world, I know I’d give it all if I could take them all, these kids wouldn't have to suffer. You know, there's only seven or eight of them. You’d done good and you’d feel like it was money well spent. [Host] That's right. [Father] That's they way I feel about it. I wouldn't care if I was worth ten million dollars, I’d rather give it all away. I’d rather go out and use a pick and shovel than see those kids suffer. And I, and the way I feel about it, I know, of course, the first couple weeks Tootsie's in there, the cost of the thing, I don't know what a person would have done. In my stand, of course I own a home, I have a bit of money, but how long will that last? And as far as the [inaudible] of the March of Dimes? I don’t think there's any, well, I don't think there would be anything any better. [Host] I suppose, like all parents, you've got a letter from the Foundation soon after this happened. [Father] The letter I got in fact, I'm not scared to bring it up and show it to you, with her name on it. I think that was the most, one of the most wonderful letter you ever got at that time when a father was really down in the dumps, and you don’t know, because my wife said to me, well I wonder how

soon it lasts and how much it would cost. I said, I don't care if it takes this shirt off my back if she gets out of there. She says well, you can go so far. I said I don't care. We got the house. Let them have the house, they can have it all. All right, what’s the difference? That's the way I feel about it. What’s money if you're sick. [Host] Sure. And yet, it's wonderful to have a little bit of help coming along to take one...[Father] It’s more than wonderful... [Host]...big burden off your mind. [Father] Because I'm going to tell you what the man told me down there, he said no, he said just because you'd have enough money to go out and buy a Cadillac, I wouldn't want you to go out and buy a Cadillac. [Host] Yeah. [Father] Now, I think it was wonderful. That's what the Board said down there. They said that the fact that, they told me in the letter, said only a millionaire could pay. [Host] About the way it is. [Father] So when I got that letter, I'm telling you, I called my wife on the phone, and I told her, I said I have a letter from the Board down here.

and so I read it to her and she couldn't believe it. I called her in and I said, I'm going down to see Ray about it. Once we came in, called him up, made an appointment, which we did. She says I’d like to go with you. I said well, you’re going to have to come home. And they said, we don't expect to lose your house or anything else, but you got to give the words, this is what we want you to put in here. We'll take care of it, which I think was wonderful. They said your child will be as well taken care of as anybody, as if you had a million dollars to pay for it, he says, she’ll be taken care of whether you've got a dime or not. Just the way he explained it. Says that they're all treated the same. Says if they don’t, if they're not, he says, I'd like to know about. [Host] Polio not only causes parents mental and emotional suffering, but completely upsets the normal routine of living.

Many parents from out of town rent rooms near the hospital, often leaving their children in the care of relatives or friends. When I asked one mother whether polio changed her daily life, she told me, [Mother] Well, it certainly changed it because I come to Columbus every day,” and that's about 70 miles, and I leave home about 11 o'clock in the morning and I don't get back to anywhere between nine and ten in the evening. [Host] In other words, you come up for the visiting hours at two... [Mother] At two. [Host] ...and then you stay through until seven o'clock in the evening. [Mother] That's right. [Host] And then you drive back to Chandlersville that same night. [Mother] Mm-hmm. [Host] That's pretty tough going during these winter days, isn't it? [Mother] Yes, it is. [Host] Most parents have some difficulty with financial problems when they have people that go to the hospital. And we know that polio is a pretty expensive proposition. Would you want to say anything about the financial problem in connection with your case? [Mother] Well, we didn't have polio insurance or any insurance to cover this.

And we talked to the Foundation Fund, the chairman of it, and he said that that they would take care of what we couldn't. [Host] And that's the story I heard from parents over and over again. First, the shock of that unexpected blow and the adjustment to a new and difficult situation. Then, in most cases, hope and real encouragement for a complete recovery. And finally, a helping hand from the local chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. And through all this, one big question runs. What can we do to stop it? Our main hope is medical research, which someday, before too many years, we hope will be the answer. This is Bill Ewing speaking, and closing today's story of "Those Who Wait", tape recorded through the cooperation of the

staff at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.