***********************************************
A SHANA TOVAH (HAPPY NEW
YEAR)
TO ALL OUR JEWISH MEMBERS AND
FRIENDS
A CANDY FILLED
HOLLOWEEN
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happening with you!!
presentation on orthotics for polios.
Dr. Richard Tessler of the Volusia Hand Surgery
Clinic, will give a talk on
carpal tunnel syndrome
and
surgery for carpal tunnel.
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CONTENTS
From
Barbara
Car
Keys Burglar Alert
Interview
with Dr. Jacquelin Perry
Five
Years Ago – On a Monday Morning
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FROM BARBARA
In the last issue of our newsletter
I told you that I was having carpal tunnel problems – well…on August 10th I
under-went carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand. Part of this is being typed BEFORE the
surgery as I don’t know if I’ll be able to do much typing before the newsletter
has to go out the first week in September.
When I’m able to, I will, naturally, give you a full report on how the
surgery and the recovery period went.
I do know that I will be wearing a cast on that hand for at least two
weeks. Hopefully, after the two
weeks, I’ll be able to resume a fairly normal life – but we will wait and
see.
My right hand has become quite bad
and I’m sure that will also have to undergo surgery shortly – doctor gave me a
shot of cortisone before I left on the cruise.. Guess the 54 years of typing and the 15
years of using a cane have finally had their way with me. My surgeon, Dr. Richard Tessler will be our guest speaker at our January meeting,
which will be a week earlier,
Now, right before I had the surgery
I went on a four-day cruise on the Carnival line with my daughter and her
family. We left out of Jacksonville
Seaport. The ship we were on is one
of the older ones in the Carnival line – the Celebration – it was really quite
accessible with the exception of their elevators. I never saw such small elevators in my
life. If I went in with the
scooter, only 2 others were able to fit in. Also, the floor panel buttons were
placed where I could not reach higher than #5 and a good many times had to go
higher…
so, if a family member wasn’t with me, had to ask someone to
“please push number…. “ for me. Quite a bit of the time I would take an
elevator down in order to go up, or up in order to go down – this was done just
to make sure that I got into an elevator.
Thing is they did have a couple of elevators with a side floor panel
button set-up (with the regular floor panel also) – now, if one or two of these
were designated for use by the disabled only, it would have made things quite a
bit easier. I did make that
suggestion to the Purser and to one or two other employees on the ship.
Another problem was the phone in the handicap room. In my particular room (and I didn’t see
any other handicap rooms), the phone was on the wall about 8 feet from the
bed. If there was an emergency and
I had to get to the phone, it would present a problem.
The two pools were not accessible for me.
I would not recommend this Carnival ship for a handicapped individual IF they use a wheelchair (either
manual or electric) or a scooter.
I was able to get off the ship at both
Going on another cruise in November – Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the
Seas – will, of course report on that one in a later
newsletter.
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The following item has been e-mailed
to me several times. You’ve
probably gotten it also. It seems
like a wonderful and easy idea to follow.
CAR KEYS
BURGLER ALERT
Here’s a great tip straight from a
neighborhood watch coordinator, if you have a car alarm.
Keep your car keys on the night
stand next to your bed at night. If someone tries to break into your house, or
if you hear a suspicious noise outside your house, just press the panic alarm on
your car.
It will go off from most everywhere
inside your house and keep honking until your battery runs down or until you
reset it with the button on the key chain. This “alarm” costs you nothing and
the results are an effective way to chase away would-be
intruders.
TRAVELERS: This tactic will work to
drive away intruders to your motel room if your room happens to be adjacent to
your parked car!
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We
have our very own special correspondent.
Neena has submitted other articles that we have
inserted into our newsletter. Here
is her newest one. Thank you Neena.
INTERVIEW
WITH
DR.
JACQUELIN PERRY
©
By Neena Bhandari
For the growing number
of polio survivors facing new challenges with the onset of post polio syndrome,
world renowned polio specialist Dr. Jacquelin Perry
says, “Listen
to your body. Feel the aches and pains. Don’t Push. Control
your destiny”.
Infantile
paralysis or polio epidemics struck
“The
effects were like spatter paint. If you had a lot of paint, you had a lot of
damage, while others were just touched lightly. Polio is a nerve disease that
damages or kills anterior horn cells. The survivors were left with a damaged
neuro-muscular system”, explains Dr
Perry.
In 1955,
Dr Jonas Salk introduced an inactivated (killed) polio vaccine (IPV) and in 1961
Dr Albert Sabin developed the live attenuated (weakened) oral vaccine (OPV),
which halted this childhood plague.
Today,
polio has been eradicated from the
However,
doctors and medical scientists are facing a new challenge of seeking a cause and
cure for the post-polio syndrome (PPS).
As Dr
Perry opines, “Suddenly since 1978, polio survivors started coming back, too
many of them feeling pain and weakness."
About 60
per cent of the 650,000 polio survivors, who thought they had left their
wheelchairs behind, are struck by debilitating legacy of a disease that attacks
out of nowhere.
Dr Jacquelin Perry, one of the first 10 women to qualify as an
orthopaedic surgeon in the
Born on
At the
tender age of 10, she knew she wanted to be a doctor and began reading every
medical book and journal in the
Soon she
was employed in the army as a physical therapist. “My experience at the Army
Centre for Polio and Arthritis in Hot Springs, Arkansas, provided a valuable
background for my later year’s focus on rehabilitation”, says Dr
Perry.
Jacquelin went to
medical school and specialised in orthopaedic surgery at the
Immediately
after her residency in orthopaedic surgery, Dr Perry was invited to join Rancho
Los Amigos in the
At Rancho,
the medical staff was exploring surgical ways to
provide stability for patients who had paralysis of the neck, spine or both and
for whom trunk-bracing was inadequate.
Dr Perry
extended the use of spine surgery to such patients and along with Dr Vernon
Nickel developed the `halo device’, which allows three-dimensional control for
the head and is routinely used today in spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
She
explains, “Trunk braces are used for spines and separate braces for the neck. We
used halos for both neck and thoracic spines”.
In
addition to the development of unique surgeries, she believes that a major
contribution of Rancho during the polio epidemics was the team (nurses,
therapists, physicians and patients) concept of patient care. She says, “In
rehabilitation, you don't make people normal. You make them
better”.
In her
opinion as the new breed of US doctors have not seen fresh polio cases, PPS is under-treated by the general medical
community. When the opportunity
arises for her to speak at worldwide conferences or lectures, Dr. Perry uses the
occasion to educate other medical professionals about PPS.
She says,
“Doctors
must listen to their patients. I attend polio conferences like the one organised
by International Polio Network in
"Don't
push the system and control loss of function by avoiding overuse of muscles.
Polio survivors who overuse muscles will lose strength and you cannot fight back
to regain it”, cautions Dr Perry.
She
believes not everyone gets PPS. One can control loss of muscle function by
making lifestyle changes, modifying and pacing activities.
Her
general activity guideline is that a polio survivor can do anything as long as
it causes no pain, for pain is a sign of injury and overuse; so just don't let
it happen. Secondly, no fatigue that lasts longer than 10 minutes.
Internationally
renowned as the Grand Dame of Gait Analysis, she has written over 300 articles,
book chapters, abstracts and editorials on polio, gait, spine surgery, stroke,
rehabilitation, muscle, function and sports medicine. Her book Gait Analysis:
She has to
her credit several honours and awards like the President of California
Association of Rehabilitation Facilities Award 1984; Joseph F. Dowling
Distinguished Award 1988; Physician of the Year 1994 Award by California
Governor’s Commission; Edward W. Lowman Award 1999 by American Congress of
Rehabilitation Medicine, Orlando.
In all
humility Dr Perry says, “My desire to make my own decisions and my willingness
to take the responsibility for the consequences has probably been the key to my
success. I don’t think I have missed out on anything. Not being married or
having children. I have always wanted to help others”.
Her
dedication to work even at 87, leaves one with no
doubt. She continues to see polio survivors in a clinic adjacent to a building
named after her - the Jacqueline Perry Neuro-Trauma Institute and Rehabilitation
Centre.
She
believes
that post-polio syndrome is under-treated by the general medical community, the
Rancho Post-Polio Clinic remains open and she continues as chief of Post-Polio
Services. Dr. Perry also volunteers as medical consultant for the Rancho Pathokinesiology Lab.
She has
also trained numerous students and colleagues over the years in a variety of
ways, especially as Professor at the Departments of Orthopaedics and Biokinessiology and Physical Therapy in University of
Southern California School of Medicine.
On being
asked about her views on aging by International Polio Network’s Director Joan
Headley, Dr Perry said, “Aging is not a problem. It's natural, but the
functional restraints of Parkinsonism has made life
more difficult for me.”
There is
nothing to dampen her insurmountable spirit as Dr Perry actively pursues her
hobbies and interests taking the advice she has so often given to polio
survivors. “Modify your lifestyle, and implement energy conservation techniques
in order to accommodate your new reality”.
The
end.
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The
following essay is by one of our own members, Jack Briggs. Much thanks, Jack.
FIVE YEARS AGO
–
ON A MONDAY
MORNING
On Monday
we e-mailed jokes.
**
On Tuesday
we did not.
On Monday
we thought we were secure.
**
On Tuesday
we learned better.
On Monday
we were talking about heroes as being athletes.
**
On Tuesday
we relearned who our heroes are.
On Monday
we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived.
**
On Tuesday
we gave money away to people we had never met.
On Monday
there were people fighting against prayer in schools.
**
On Tuesday
you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not
praying.
On Monday
people argued with their kids about cleaning up their
rooms.
**
On Tuesday
the same people couldn’t get home fast enough to hug their
kids.
On Monday
people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a super-market
line.
**
On Tuesday
people didn’t care about waiting up to six hours to give blood for the
dying.
On Monday
there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed.
**
On Tuesday
they were all holding hands.
On Monday
we were men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or poor, gay or
straight, Christian or non-Christian.
**
On Tuesday
we were ALL Americans.
On Monday
politicians argued about budget surpluses.
**
On
Tuesday, grief stricken, they all sang ‘God Bless
On Monday
the President was going to
**
On Tuesday
he returned to
On Monday
we had families.
**
On Tuesday
we had orphans.
On Monday
people went to work as usual.
**
On Tuesday
they died.
On Monday
people were fighting the Ten Commandments on government
property.
**
On Tuesday
the same people all said ‘God help us all’ while thinking ‘Thou shalt not
kill!’
It is
sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective. But it Has!!
The
lessons learned the week of September 9, 2001, the things we have taken for
granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN
AGAIN…..
FECPPSG
Editor’s Note:-
Jack just
sent this to me and I thought it was most apropos for this issue. Once again –
Thanks,
Jack…
****************************************
FECPPSG Editor’s Note:-
Sorry for
the shorter newsletter this issue, but in addition to my carpal tunnel surgery
my daughter, Bari Lynn, had some serious surgery and,
as of today, August 30th, she is still in CCU at a hospital in
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FLORIDA EAST COAST POST-POLIO SUPPORT
GROUP
12 Eclipse Trail /
386-676-2435
/ e-mail address:
bgold@iag.net
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE: Red Lobster Restaurant
Right off I-95 – Exit 261–
(head EAST for about 1/4 mile)
PROGRAM:-
General
Rap and Talk Session. Tell us
what’s been
Happening with you.
Cost of the Luncheon is $10.00 all
inclusive. As usual we will have a choice of several different menu
items.
Please send in
your reservation tear sheet and check
no later than
Any questions call Barbara at 386-676-2435.
==========================================================================
R E S E R V A
T I O N F O R M
Name:- _______________________________ Phone No.:-
_________________
Number of People Coming:- _________ Number in Wheelchair(s):- ___________
Amount of Check Enclosed:- ________________ @ $10.00 per person
Make check payable to and mail same
to:
FLORIDA EAST
COAST POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP
12 Eclipse
Trail --
09/2006
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FLORIDA EAST COAST POST-POLIO SUPPORT
GROUP
12 ECLIPSE TRAIL
386 676-2435
e-mail:- bgold@iag.net
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE: Red Lobster Restaurant
Right off I-95 – Exit 261–
(head EAST for about 1/4 mile)
PROGRAM:- Just
a general rap and talk session.
Let’s hear what’s
been happening with you – what’s been bothering you
–
whatever….
For further
information call:- Barbara 386-676-2435
=====================================================================
2006
DUES/MAILING LIST
____ Dues Enclosed
____ Keep me on mailing
list
If sending dues, please make Check
($5.00) Payable to and Mail to:-
FLORIDA EAST COAST POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP
12 Eclipse Trail,
NAME:-
__________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:-
_______________________________________________________
E-MAIL
ADDRESS:-__________________________ FAX #:-
_______________
TELEPHONE NO:- Home _______________________ Office
________________
Date of
Birth:-_________________
Wedding
Anniversary:- ________________
Name and Date of Birth of
Spouse:-_____________________________________
09/2006