I had polio on my 7th Birthday. I fortunately had no effects.
I just want to say that to some extent there is still fear.
First, My mother, over my protests, made me get the Salk and Sabin vaccines.
Today, I am currently trying to get into the Peace Corps. After LONG conversations, I was told that I HAD to get a booster for Polio and MMR.
Having had the diseases was not enough!!!
So last week, I had the boosters, which medical insurance will not cover.

RULES are RULES and there is still misconception and fear.

Sent by Margaret Richards - Columbus, OH | 3:29 PM ET | 06-06-2007

I had polio in 1956 in Omaha, Nebraska. At 3 years old,I was in an iron lung for some months. I am wondering now about post-polio syndrom and the records from Children's hospital are no longer available. Were there different types of polio?

Sent by Mark Alan Williams | 3:31 PM ET | 06-06-2007

I was born in 1952 and can remember in first grade being vaccinated for polio for the first time. As I recall we all received a skin prick of some sort on the sternum. It was later that the sugar cubes cames about.

What sticks in my mind the most is that there was a boy the year ahead of me in school who had crutches and braces because he had polio. All I knew was that I did not want to end up like that and would grit my teeth and get "the shot"!!

What bothers me today are those parents who refuse to get their kids vaccinated against polio.

Sent by Beth Porter | 3:38 PM ET | 06-06-2007

A particularly amazing polio treatment story I would like to share is the story of my father. He was infected with polio at the age of 4 in a refugee camp for United States citizens trapped in post world war II Germany. He was receiving treatment in the camp hospital for pneumonia and contracted polio in the hospital. However, the amazing part of the story is what happened after he was allowed to return to the United States. His father, Dr. Gerhard Brecher, arranged a truly revolutionary surgery for him. Doctors severed the working nerves in his foot nerves that normally allow a person to move his foot side to side. They then reconnected those nerves to the muscle that allows a person to raise his foot. After re-learning how to use those nerves, my father was able to walk again and has been able to walk - to this day - without crutches or a brace.

Sent by Eric Brecher-Lewellyn | 3:52 PM ET | 06-06-2007

I contacted polio at 18 months. Initially I was placed in isolation at the hospital. I wore a brace until the age of 7. A new doctor which my mother had located advocated that I would be able to better exercise the muscles in my leg without the brace. My mother, a nurse, coached me through a series of exercises from the onset of the disease. The day the brace was removed was one of the most glorious days of my young life. At age 12 I had reconstructive surgery to lengthen my leg, fuse my ankle and shorten the tendons in my foot to prevent the toe from dropping. All in all I consider myself lucky for having escaped the disease with little more than a limp and the need to wear two different sized shoes.

Sent by Debbie Dunipace - Dublin OH | 8:40 AM ET | 06-07-2007

What happened to Joey Buckley's legs after the fall? Did it hinder upon his rehabilitation? Just finished reading the book and loved it.

Sent by Susan | 12:44 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I am curious as to why you can't go in the warm springs pool any more? If it is helpful for the symptoms....

Sent by Gwendolyn | 12:51 AM ET | 05-20-2008