Living with the Late Effects of Poliomyelitis

Abstract

Between the 1940s and 1950s, over 250,000 persons survived the polio epidemic with a variety of disabilities. As varied as the "victims" involved in this epidemic, so were the resulting disabilities, ranging from total dependence on a ventilator to localized muscle weakness. Most polio "survivors" have led productive lives; however, in the past decade many survivors have reported a resurgence in muscle weakness, fatigue, difficulty in swallowing, insomnia, respiratory difficulties, and pain: postpolio syndrome. Darlene contracted polio at the age of 3 in 1955. Since this was at the "end" of the epidemic, she was a younger victim. This article is an overview of one woman's challenges and successes: the ability to live a full life with a disability.