THE NEXT MEETING OF THE POLIO SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP OF WNY WILL BE HELD AT ST. LUKES LUTHERAN CHURCH, 900 MARYVALE DR. AT UNION ROAD ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2000 AT 7:15 PM.
Hi Everyone,
I heard the meeting on September 20th was a good one and I am sorry I couldn’t attend. The movie “Five Little Pennies”, featuring Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong was shown and the people that were present were: Susie and Bud Foster, Don O’Connor, Emilie and Gerald Willman, Phyllis Kennedy, Pat and Dave Hamilton, Linda Lyons, Jean and Gus Arndt, Susie and Bud Foster, and Henry Maciejewski.
At the next meeting, December 20th, Eugene Gosy, M.D. a neurologist and pain management specialist will be our guest speaker. This will also be our annual holiday party, so if you would like to contribute something festive to eat and drink, it would be much appreciated.
PPS Anesthesia Study, conducted by Dr. Richard L. Bruno
We are collecting case histories of polio survivors who’ve had frightening, dangerous or good experiences with anesthesia. The anesthesia could have been a gas, intravenous or oral (or some combination) and used for a diagnostic procedure (such as a colonoscopy), minor surgery (such as dental surgery), laporoscopic surgery or an open procedure. We would like to hear about the effectiveness of the anesthesia and any side effects you may have had, including:
§ Waking up during the procedure
§ Vomiting after you received the anesthesia
§ Not being able to wake, breathe or swallow for hours or days after receiving the anesthesia
§ Feeling sleepy or fatigued for days or weeks after receiving the anesthesia
§ The amount of PAIN you experienced after the procedure, whether you received PAIN MEDICATION and the TYPE OF PAIN MEDICATION
Please include:
§ Your AGE and DATES when you had the anesthesia
§ Your AGE at which you had polio
§ If you had BREATHING PROBLEMS when you had polio, what they were and if you used a respirator or an iron lung
§ Breathing problems you had AT THE TIME of the procedures (including sleep apnea and whether you were using a CPAP or BiPAP machine)
§ Any medical problems that might make you more sensitive to anesthesia (such as liver or kidney disease)
Please e-mail the above information. DON’T include any childhood surgeries where you were given ETHER.
We would also very much appreciate your mailing (mailing label next page) the ANESTHESIOLOGIST’S REPORT that describes how much anesthesia you received, the type of anesthesia you received and your response before, during and after the procedure.
All this information will help us be better able to convince anesthesiologists and surgeons that the type and amount of anesthesia and pain medication must be tailored to the individual polio survivor and not be determined merely by body weight.
As always, many thanks for your assistance! If you’re about to receive anesthesia please read the Preventing Surgical Complications article in the PPS Library:
http://members.aol.com/harvestctr/pps/polio.html
Be well,
Dr. Richard L. Bruno ---------------------------------------------------
Chairperson Dr. Richard L. Bruno
International Post-Polio Force and Director 151 Prospect Avenue
The Post-Polio Institute Box 17 H
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Hackensack, NJ 07601 USA
ANESTHESIA STUDY
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After the September newsletter was sent out, I once again received an e-mail from a polio survivor that was from the WNY area. His name is Jim Bley and he originally was from Eden, NY. He lived on the corner of Bley and Bauer. Jim had polio early in the summer of 1944 and spent about 9 months in Children’s hospital and then transferred to NYS Reconstruction Home in W. Haverstraw, NY. The facility has a different name now. In 1955, Jim moved to the Phoenix area (no snow). He has been trying to locate some of the people who had polio around 1944-45. He mentioned that he remembered a lady Barbara Hillery, Richard Barter, Leo Dumke and a girl from Springville, Marian Wells. He has been in touch with a friend who now lives in the Denver area. He said that there is an active group in Phoenix called “The Polio Echo Group”. The website is http:astec.asu.edu/polioecho. His personal e-mail site is jimbley@juno.com, and his name is Jim Bley. If anyone would like to communicate with Jim, please do so as he would appreciate it.
NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE PAY $10.00 FOR YOUR DUES FOR THE YEAR 2000 TO: HENRY MACIEJEWSKI, 540 Doat St. Buffalo, NY 14211. Thank you in advance.
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PLEASE NOTIFY US IF YOU CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS
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The March 2001 meeting will be on Wednesday, March 21, 2001 at 7:15 PM at St. Lukes Lutheran Church.
If anyone has anything -- news, information, etc. that they would like to be put into the next flyer, please contact me by e-mail: calvanes@buffalo.edu, and I would be happy to insert it.
Susan M. Calvaneso
Recording Secretary
December 5, 2000