"You guys are the ones walking funny..."

What is Polio?


Polio, or more properly poliomyelitis, was one of the most feared and studied diseases of the first half of the 20th Century. Though the Salk and later the Sabin vaccines have essentially eliminated the disease in developed countries, many mysteries regarding polio remain. This is probably due to the fact that as polio epidemics ended in North America and Europe, research on the disease also came to an abrupt halt. Thus, as LaForce (1983) noted, knowledge about the epidemiology and pathology of polio is essentially frozen at a mid-1950s level.

So yeah...that's polio...it affects lots of different people. Not so common now as it was a looong time ago...but...it did affect me...
there is this woman i know that got polio from the vaccine when she was only four months old. It affected her right leg...attacking the nerves and making it unable for use. She was told that she would never walk, never have children, and never be what the doctors considered "normal" WELLLLLL....this woman decided that the doctors were wrong. She got leg braces and learned to walk...yes with a limp...but it's walking. She also got married...three times. :) and now has a huge family...four kids...PLUS....step children and grandchildren.
This woman does anything she wants...her "disability" has never stopped her before. She has an amazing career as a respected banker. She is a child of God and a miracle in her own way.
This unbelievable lady...is Susan Smith...my mom.
Yeah...she's pretty darn cool.