Transitions

  

We are now in a transition time of our calendar year. The time of year that falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The same time every year and yet it is a“Time” when we all become crazy busy and yet find time to have an amazing wonderful time with family and friends.

 Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we had a delightful day with our

Nolan and I at a book signing

entire family. Our daughter and her family entertained us just perfect. The weather was amazingly nice and our entire family of “16” was enjoying their time together. I am so Thankful for my husband, Nolan, and what he does to make my day better.  Today he will continue to make our home festive for Christmas. We will dine with friends this evening. A perfect day planned. 

As the day transitions from darkness to light, a lot of people are likely finishing or beginning their Christmas shopping in the frenzy of “Black Friday”. Last evening we enjoyed a few left over dinner treats for our supper, a wonderful Hallmark Christmas movie and then I spent a few hours at the sewing machine. (That activity usually starts and/or ends my day.)  The day couldn’t have been better. It is still dark out and I am enjoying a cup of coffee and writing this Blog.

 

The next transition is writing this Blog.  I would have never believed that I would be writing a Blog every week. That all changed when my book “All the Steps I Have Taken” became a part of my life on August 7, 2012. The content of the book is my life but learning all that I have learned over the last year was not. I could manage some tasks on the computer by managing my career as a dental assistant.  I was able to balance my check book, and I could type things for church but that was it. I keep in touch with family and friends on FB.  I am finding a lot of polio survivors on Twitter and I get to tell a little piece about me each week.

 

Transitions are life changing. At this time of day my father is being cared for by our daughter and my sister. The care shifts change daily as our family meets each of their daily obligations, but always loved ones are with the person we love. I will be picking up his Great-grandchildren later this morning and going to see “Grandpa”. What will tomorrow bring?  That transition is still in God’s hands. We don’t know what each tomorrow will bring. “God, only in your love can I learn the balance of choosing wisely by investing myself fully.”

 

 

” The Final Inch”

“The Final Inch”

                                                “The Final Inch”

The polio vaccine has been around for 50 years yet we are still trying to eradicate the disease polio. Poliomyelitis is a disease that had three actual types of virus. One of them caused vomiting and flu type systems. Children and adults usually recovered from this type with no ill effects. The second type caused paralysis to arms, legs, shoulders or in combination of places. The third type is Bulbar and this is the one that can kill. It is the one that tells our heart to beat and our diaphragm to push and pull air. Polio is a virus the spreads by drinking contaminated water. One must wash their hands.

Uttar Pradesh, India has 187,000 million people and has the largest concentration of polio.  The World Health Assembly, Unicef and Rotary are working very hard to “End Polio Now.” India has had 4 million volunteers to work to eradicate polio and in January 2013 they will celebrate no new cases for 2012.  It will be a Celebration.  It hasn’t been easy but the work has been completed there.  Now Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan still are in need of volunteers to get the job of vaccination completed. It is down to the last 1%.

Rotary is today the quiet army that is working so hard to finish “The Final Inch”. We are this close. The foot soldiers in the war to end polio, have become the largest non-military organization in human history working toward the final goal of ending polio cases world wide.  We must reach the poorest areas in the world. If not, polio will be just a plane ride away.

The History of the Polio Timeline reported from 1945-1949 that there were 20,000 new cases each year in the United States. In 1952 the largest number, 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States. The following year in 1953, Dr. Jonas Saulk started his field trials. In 1955 the vaccine became available to the public and we all remember lining up to receive the vaccine at local schools nation wide.

We must keep working until the last 1% is reached so that no more children will have to live a life of challenge, with the effects of poliomyelitis, as I have since 1948. I live each day with prayer, patience, prioritize and persistance to make my day as normal as possible.

End Polio Now “We are this close”

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a serious disease caused by a virus the affect’s a person’s nervous system, by causing paralysis and death. Polio is mainly spread by ingesting items that are contaminated by an infected person. Polio can also be spread through, water, and uncooked food.  It mainly affects children younger than 5 years old, but all unvaccinated people of any age are at risk.

In the late 40’s and early 50’s polio crippled around 35,000 people each year in the United States.  It was the most feared disease of the twentieth century. By 1979 the United States became polio free.

Because Dr Jonas Salk knew he had a highly effective vaccine in 1953, he vaccinated his wife and sons against the disease. It became available to the general public in 1955. Dr. Salk and the March of Dimes brought relief to the nation. When  President Franklin D. Roosevelt founded the March od Dimes in 1938, he could not have imagined that on the 10th Anniversary of his death, April 12, 1955 it would facilitate a medical miracle that was to reduce the incidence rate of polio in the U.S. by 96 percent.

“We are this Close.”  This is the campaign for Rotary International.  Now the polio vaccine must make it to those who are hardest to reach in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan where the disease still exists.  In 2010 India reported forty-two cases. In 2011 only one case was reported. If India makes it to December 31, 2012,with no cases, it will be celebrated as having irradiated polio.

Linda at 11th Rotary Foundation Celebration District 5960

Polio vaccination campaigns take place about every six weeks in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  More than 50,000 teams fan out across 60 districts to inoculate millions of children.  It is the most remote villages in the world.  The vaccine travels primarily by jeeps until the road runs out. Then donkeys, horses and boats and the teams take it to the children to give doses of the vaccine every 3 to 6 months.  The vaccine is kept cold in ice filled cooler for transportation.

Eradication of polio is a global goal.  The entire world must receive the vaccine to “End Polio Now”.  “We are this Close” to reaching the last 1%. Please help the Polio Plus program, sponsored by Rotary International, to make this happen. Polio is only a plane ride away until all children world wide receive the vaccine.

Vaccine recommendations: Infants and Children. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that all infants and children in the United States should receive 4 doses of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) administered at 2 months, 4 months, 6-18 months, and 4-6 years of age. This information is current as of October 18, 2012. Vaccinated adults who travel to an ‘at risk’ area should receive an adult booster dose before departure. Unvaccinated adults should consult their doctor before departure.