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Can You Help?
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ITEM CYH703
Your organization is an answer to prayer. I am learning so much and I would like to network and contribute, as a Member, with networking and support and whatever knowledge I may have.
In 1995, 40 years after my polio (non-paralyzing) I suffered a serious case of diagnosed encephalitis. Ten years later, some symptoms are back and damage is increasing, combined with post-polio latent problems. I had a thorough neurophysiological work-up at Loyola University and after an MRI and an MRA and three hours of testing, part of the summary was that I would develop further worsening of the psychomotor retardation I have, as well as further deterioration of the speech, memory and declining cognitive processing my tests measured. Further MRIs by another neurologist confirmed encephalitis. A complicating factor is that I am bipolar. Posted 4-26-06
Question: Have any other post-polio survivors also experienced encephalitis? I have another question: Does anyone else have family members in denial and calling you a hypochondriac? I am in the western suburbs of Chicago, in fact, a stone's throw from one of the Loyola doctors specializing in Integrative Medicine, listed in your Post-Polio Directory.
Mary, La Grange Park, Illinois, 81garage@comcast.net
ITEM CYH702
I had polio and my calf muscle in my one leg is smaller than the other. Is there a solution so that my legs will both look the same?
Response: You may be interested in the following article published in March 2006.
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2006 Mar;117(3):817-26; discussion 827. Augmentation of the lower leg: a new combined calf-tibial implant. Gutstein RA. Plastic Surgery Center of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California 90035, USA. newyou@plasticsurgerycenter.com
Background: The underdeveloped lower leg can be a source of embarrassment. Underdevelopment or atrophy may be associated with asymmetry, congenital deformity (tibial torsion, pes planus, genu valgus), traumatic nerve damage, or disease (polio). In some people, muscular development simply fails to respond to exercise. Augmentation of the calves with subfascial silicone implants has been practiced for 25 years and is a reliable procedure.
The implant is placed through a transverse popliteal incision in a plane dissected between the gastrocnemius fascia and muscle. One or both heads of the gastrocnemius are augmented--a larger size is usually used medially. When the lower portion of the leg is also thin, and especially when there is tibial torsion, augmentation of the calf alone may exaggerate the deformity.
Methods: A new one-piece combined medial calf-medial leg implant has been developed and used in 15 patients (n=30 implants).
Results: Augmentation/correction has met with complete patient approval (except for one patient who wished to have a larger size).
Conclusion: A new and effective implant to correct various deformities or lack of development of the lower leg is presented.
ITEM CYH701, posted 3-06
I am interested in contacting post-polio survivors who underwent spinal fusions and are now in need of redoing part of the fusion. I was fused from T-2 to the sacrum. I had an S curve and also lost my lordosis. The fusion gave me back some lordosis, the curvature remained the same, but I developed a kyphosis on my left thorasic area. Due to increased muscle weakness in my legs combined with the fused spine, I very easily loose my balance and fall. I was recommended to have a vertabrae realigned in my lumbar area to increase my lordosis as well as the same redoing a fused vertabrae in the thorasic area by forming a triangular wedge from the bone. As of the past several years my breathing is compromised. I am 58 yrs. young. I am worried about this surgery. Has anybody had a similar experience? Any advice?
Please contact me at liperl7@aol.com
ITEM CYH700
I would like to have information about good centres in Asian countries where they could do a limb-lengthening operation for a polio adult (30 years old) whose legs have been paraylzed since age 4.
Quynh, Vietnam, quynhanh_vo@yahoo.com