Nebraska Polio Survivor Association

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Welcome to Gleanings 2025

ISSUE #1, WINTER 2025

Forty Years and Counting!

Last Year (2024), Nebraska Polio Survivors Association celebrated 40 years of existence.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NPSA!!!

Forty Years Ago

by Millie Malone Lill

Forty years ago, I realized something was wrong. I'd always had a “good” leg and a "bad" one, but now neither of them was behaving properly. I was always exhausted and in pain. I would sometimes just collapse in a heap, too tired to move. My husband worried about me. Then one day, as I sat in the waiting room at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha while my husband underwent a procedure, I saw a brochure. It mentioned polio, so I picked it up. Nebraska Polio Survivors Association. What was this? I was well aware that I had had polio, but what was this PPS they spoke about?

The contact number was for Nancy Baldwin Carter. I called her and she put me on the mailing list for Gleanings, the newsletter for NPSA. Nancy and I became friends and soon I was writing for this newsletter. At the time, it was one of the most prestigious newsletters in the country, with a mailing list of around 2400, all over the US and to several countries. Nancy became too ill to continue to edit the newsletter, so Marian Barnett and I took it over.

I would go to Omaha for our monthly meetings and there I met fellow polio survivors. We shared our stories, our hints and work-arounds for various problems, our favorite and not-so-favorite doctors, places that were accessible and those that were not. My column ran in every issue and continues to do so, although with the rising cost of postage and the aging out of so many of our polio survivors, the mailing list has dwindled. Now we publish Gleanings online and reach an even larger audience.

Now, forty years later, I think back on those early days, the rush to get my column in by the deadline, the friends I made and the people who were so helpful to me in coping with this incurable, progressive ailment that we share. No more monthly meetings in person, but we do meet via Zoom and that is very workable for those of us who are not as portable as once we were. Our group has changed, older members leaving but newer people joining. I cherish the friendships I've made over those forty years.

I won't be around for all of the next forty years, but I hope NPSA will. As long as the polio virus exists, there will be polio survivors who will need the comfort, the help, the support that this wonderful group provides.

2024 Year in Review

January
• NPSA Monthly Meeting- Eastern Nebraska Omaha on Aging

February No Meeting

March No meeting

April
• NPSA Monthly Meeting-PHI Town Hall-"The Interplay between polio-residual, aging, and common health problems people experience as they age" presented by Marny Eulberg, MD.
• NPSA Board of Director’s Meeting

May No Meeting

June
• NPSA Monthly Meeting PHI Town Hall-"Sustainable Caregiving" presented by Theresa Wilbanks.

July
• NPSA Monthly Meeting PHI Town Hall-"Polio and PPS Impact Our Character, Personality and Emotional Experiences with Hal Goldberg"

August
• NPSA Monthly Meeting PHI Town Hall-"How Area Agencies on Aging Can Help You with Emily Kemp"
• NPSA Board of Directors Meeting

September
• NPSA Monthly Meeting- ArchWell Health (No Show)

October
• NPSA Annual Reunion (Celebration of 40 years of NPSA)

November
• NPSA Monthly Meeting-ArchWell Health (No Show)
• NPSA Board of Directors Meeting

December (Winter Break)

Post Polio Health International (PHI) Ask the Doctor

Have a medical question about the late effects of polio? PHI's Medical Advisory Committee is here to assist. Just fill out the form at https://post-polio.org/ask-the-doctor/, and one of their volunteer physicians will be in touch. Please allow up to five business days for a response.

What can PHI's volunteer physicians help with? They can answer questions specific to some sub-groups of polio survivors that may not be answered in PHI’s more general statements…such as "What type of exercise(s) would you recommend for a polio survivors with weakness of one leg" but they will not be able to answer very specific questions such as "What is the best exercise for you?" or What is the best brace for you?"

Disclaimer: PHI offers this program as an educational service but it in no way is a substitute for medical care by a personal healthcare provider. Their physicians/other healthcare providers can only make suggestions that you, in turn, will need to discuss with your healthcare provider. They cannot treat you or write prescriptions for you. Interactions in writing, verbally or even by video cannot replace the value of an in-person evaluation.

NPSA is excited to announce our new website!

https://www.nebraskapoliosurvivors.com/

This new site provides users with a wealth of information about NPSA and Post-Polio Syndrome. ENJOY!

2024-2025 Donor List

The Nebraska Polio Survivors Association gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the following donors, who supported our mission with their gifts from January 2024 -January 2025

Donations:

Marilyn Sievers, Lincoln, NE
Kathleen Kruse, Underwood, IA
Rick Guill, Council Bluff, IA

Memorial and Honorary Gifts:

Carol Gocke, York, NE:
In Memory of Dolores E. Gocke

Patricia Sudduth’s Family and Friends, Plattsmouth, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Irene Warga, Plattsmouth, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Michael Schuldt, Omaha, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Betty Henry, Plattsmouth, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Patricia Sudduth’s Family and Friends, Plattsmouth, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Karen Dulany, LaVista, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Charissa K. Niedzwiecki, Onalaska, WI:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Sharon I. Smith, Plattsmouth, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

Angie Jameson, Murray, NE:
In Memory of Darrel Sudduth

If you wish to memorialize or honor a polio survivor with a donation to NPSA, you may send a check to the address below:

Nebraska Polio Survivors Association

PO Box 6076

Omaha, NE 68106

Because we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, all gifts are fully tax-deductible. We will acknowledge your gift in a future issue of Gleanings.

Zoom with NPSA

As a Gleanings subscriber, you are invited to attend our Zoom meetings, no matter where you live. We regularly have people from as far away as Germany, Montreal, New York, and Florida in attendance. You’re invited to join our Zoom meetings by:

Calling one of the phone numbers listed.

By downloading the Zoom app onto your mobile device or computer. Then, join the meeting by entering the Meeting ID and passcode.

On occasion, we will meet in person, location TBD, from 2:00 – 4:00 Central Standard Time (CST) on the following Sunday afternoon. Topics will be announced via email approximately one week in advance. Please provide an email address to Nebraska.Polio.Survivors@outlook.com. and the zoom address will be sent to you prior to the meeting!

2025 Dates (Tentative) Zoom Meeting Details

Both in person and on Zoom:

May. 4th
Aug. 3rd
Oct. 5th

Zoom only:

Feb. 2nd
March 2nd
April 6th
June 1st
July 13th
Sept. 7th
Nov. 2nd

Please provide an email address to Nebraska.Polio.Survivors@outlook.com. and the zoom address will be sent to you prior to the meeting!

NPSA Mission Statement

The mission of the Nebraska Polio Survivors Association is to educate the public and the health care community concerning polio and post-polio syndrome and to respond to the needs of individuals who suffer from the syndrome through group meetings, educational programming and newsletters, financial and other support of research concerning the syndrome and the circulation of research results.