“Do the Best I Can with What I’ve got”

Growing up in Detroit, Michigan, Marsha lived a normal life, surrounded by loving relatives, including an older sister, whom Marsha just adored. “She was almost like a mother to me because she was so much older,” says Marsha.

Marsha and her sister grew up during a time when polio was feared — before vaccines became available. Sadly, her family was not spared the wrath of this virus. During the Detroit Polio Epidemic of 1946, Marsha came down with polio. Her sister got it five days later. Through it all, they never gave up. For Marsha, she lived by her own motto, “Do the best I can with what I’ve got.” She did not let polio slow her down. 

Recently, the Vaccine Education Center spoke with Marsha about living with polio. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Can you briefly recount your experience with polio?

I was diagnosed with polio in 1946, before the polio vaccine became available. I was 6 years old — two months shy of my 7th birthday. It wasn't diagnosed until my right arm was completely paralyzed from the shoulder to the wrist, leaving me with four good fingers and an unusable thumb.  

The first symptoms, which no one recognized at that time, coincided with a family vacation during the Labor Day weekend. My parents, sister and I, for the one and only time ever, traveled on an overnight cruise from Detroit to Cleveland to visit my uncle. On the ship, I was nauseous, vomiting and dizzy. Everyone thought I was seasick because I'd never been on a boat that long. When we got to my uncle's house, my aunt had prepared a beautiful dinner, and I couldn’t eat anything. Then I started to have a sore throat, stiff neck and headache. I felt awful. I was so ill that my parents decided to return home the next day. 

I felt better when we got home, and I even went back for the first day of second grade. I knew how to read and write, and I wrote with my dominant right hand. Then, one day, I woke up and could only raise my right arm halfway. That was totally alarming. My mother called the doctor. He came, looked at me and said, “She has a touch of arthritis. Get some camphorated oil liniment and rub it on her arm.” So, my mother did. When I woke up the next day, I could not raise my right arm at all. I felt like my arm had died. For a 6-year-old, that was truly sad and frightening.

What do you remember about your experience with polio?

After another doctor came to examine me, the next thing I remember was being on a stretcher in a strange place with my clothes off. They put a little white jacket on me, open in the back, tied with strings. It was cold, and I was left alone. Then they came and stuck a big needle in my spine. That was painful, but I was brave and didn’t cry. Then I noticed a tag on my right ankle. I reached down and looked at it. I could sound out the big word, “po-li-o-my-e-litis.” I knew right away I had the thing that everybody was afraid of — polio! 

I was confined with other girls, aged 4 to 16, for 12 weeks in a “contagious” ward at City of Detroit’s Herman Kiefer Hospital, Infectious Disease Pavilion 6. We weren’t allowed to get off our beds even to go to the bathroom a few steps away from us. Although I was able to walk with a limp, I had to use bedpans. For a 6-year-old who was very active and lively, it was like being in prison. 

My big sister, age 14, came down with polio about a week after I did. At first, when I saw her being wheeled into the room, I was glad to see her because I wanted her near me, and then I felt really sad when I realized she, too, had polio. She ended up with a paralyzed back and abdominal muscles. She was told she’d never walk again, but she refused to accept that and absolutely refused to be in a wheelchair for life. Ultimately, she lived a very successful, normal life, walking upright and climbing up and down stairs with the aid of a brace around her upper-mid torso. She lived until 84 and was never in a wheelchair. However, she wasn’t spared the late effects of polio. Over the last 30 years of her life, she experienced much pain and had to use a walker.

What kind of treatment did you receive? 

There wasn't much they could do. Personally, I had no pain or muscle spasms. I was moving my legs and doing all kinds of things because I couldn't remain inactive while awake in bed. Nurse aides would come with what looked like washing machines on wheels, and they removed boiling hot, wet cloths, called hot packs, and wrapped them around each polio-affected area. Mine were wrapped around my right arm and leg. My skin was protected from burning by using a rubber layer, then layers of flexible plastic and firm cloth. It was uncomfortable and felt like torture. It didn’t seem to help. We had to lie perfectly still for what seemed like forever. 

There was also physical therapy, which included some stretching and passive movement of my right arm. I couldn't move my arm the way they wanted me to, so they would move it for me. There was no noticeable change in my paralysis.

What was your school experience like as a child with polio?

I just felt different and apart. I went back to my same public school. The school for disabled children wouldn’t accept me because I didn't have a wheelchair or use crutches or braces at that time, but I had weakness in my right leg, limped (refused to use a crutch), and couldn't do much with my right arm except write. 

Standing up in front of the class to recite was a challenge. I was afraid students would notice my right arm. I would hide it behind my skirt because I had the idea that it was smaller than my left arm, and I wasn't going to show my right arm at all. Climbing three flights of stairs in high school was challenging as well, as was the need to carry all those heavy books with my left arm. 

During gym class when they picked teams, they never picked me. It was hurtful. I always tried to participate when I could though (e.g., take my turn at bat, put equipment away), because I remembered what one nurse's aide told me. She said, “Never say, ‘I can't.’” And I never did. 

My teenage years were very difficult. In high school, everybody had cliques, and they had friends and were always together. I would make friends with the girls who weren’t in the cliques, but I didn't know how to make close friends. So, I was quiet and hardly said a word. I realized later that most of the kids didn't even know I had polio, and I never knew of anyone else in school or my neighborhood who had polio at that time. I hid the physical manifestations very well, but the trauma of the diagnosis and the struggles took an emotional toll on me. I was in denial for a long time about my condition, and it took 20 years of therapy and spiritual help to get back to my pre-polio active, chattering self.

How did the signs of post-polio syndrome manifest themselves as you got older? 

When I was in my late 30s, my neck and back were very sore and painful after normal activities. That’s when I was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome and received early intervention, including swimming and physical therapy. I learned certain exercises for many affected muscle groups to manage the pain.

Because of polio, both of my feet were affected with what’s called polio “foot drop” and fallen arches. My feet were turning inward, which can lead to hip problems and other issues. So, I've been wearing custom orthotics (shoe inserts) since age 38. About 15 years later, I began to wear ankle-foot orthotics (braces) to keep my feet up when walking and to prevent me from tripping. Since last year [2024], I’ve had good results with improved carbon fiber braces, which help propel the feet forward with every step.  

In the last five years, I’ve had many falls because my balance has become worse. Even with orthotics and braces, I’m less steady on my feet.  Thankfully, I had no serious injuries or broken bones. 

I’ve had intolerance to cold for many years due to many possible ways of virus damage. Affected areas can often feel that the temperature is at least 10 degrees lower. I tend to have cold hands, fingers and feet all winter, but not during summer or in places with warmer climates.

I continue to be mostly pain-free, and I follow my regimens of swimming three times a week and physical therapy fitness twice weekly. Now, I wear leg braces, plus I rely more and more on a cane or walker. Walking and travel have become more difficult. But I remain a passionate, amateur photographer, whose favorite thing to do is walk outdoors and take pictures. I haven't let polio stop me from that.

How did you overcome the challenges of living with polio?

Well, that one nurse's aide who told me, “Never say, ‘I can't,’” was a big help. I had the support of a very close neighborhood friend as well. We stayed friends for 70 years until she died. There was also my big sister and father, but he died much too young, at 45, when I was 10 years old. My mother was always very strong emotionally; she never complained. She was very responsible and conscientious although she had a very hard life. And so, I was strong like her, didn’t complain, kept everything inside, but tried everything: went to school, learned to type, played piano, lived away from home in college, worked 53 1/2 years as a pharmacist (eventually earned two more degrees and became a Doctor of Pharmacy at age 60 before retiring at age 76), drove a car, traveled, married. I did everything normally. But there were a lot of times when I had to be creative. With polio, I continued to write with my right hand, but I couldn't hold a pencil the same way because I couldn't use my thumb. And so, I figured out a way to hold the pencil with my second and third finger. I also learned how to be left-handed. 

I always tried to do my best as a mother, too. I have two children, both doctors, and six grandchildren who’ve given me the happiest part of my life.

What do you wish more people understood about living with polio? 

Every day is a challenge. There's a lot of mental anguish, pain, suffering, lifelong paralysis and disability. It just doesn't go away by itself. There are no medicines or treatments proven to be effective against polio’s damage. And as you get older, the challenges multiply.

What message do you have for the public when it comes to making vaccine decisions? 

I want to share that anyone who is not vaccinated can be affected by polio. Don't listen to all the misinformation and lies you've heard from unqualified individuals. The vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective. This terrible plague has been eliminated from the U.S. and must not return. 

I just can't bear the thought of anyone needlessly coming down with polio. Especially, I think of the babies and the children — today’s parents can spare them from death or lifelong suffering just by getting them vaccinated.