Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

Social connection also plays a pivotal role in Peg’s recovery, providing her with the support and motivation she needs to fight the effects of polio and regain her independence. Social connection provides patients with an empathic community that validates their pain and celebrates their victories. The resulting relationships encourage social, physical, mental, and emotional healing through reducing negative or self-deprecating thoughts that often occur in isolation. Such social connections also challenge limiting beliefs and curb destructive habits.

The immediate isolation at the onset of her diagnosis—when Peg is unable to say goodbye to her grandpa or dog—is the first of many occasions in which her situation facilitates feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Unfortunately, in the case of highly infectious, debilitating, and deadly diseases such as polio, isolation is necessary. Peg’s time in isolation at the Sheltering Arms and at University Hospital causes feelings of dejection, as she desperately wants this traumatic experience to end. Peg’s most consistent desire throughout her treatment and recovery is to see her parents. When they are finally allowed into Peg’s room despite her isolation, Peg sees “fear in their eyes” (31), but even so, her dejection transforms into joy despite her bleak prognosis, and she draws strength from her parents’ presence because she feels “safer knowing they [are] in the room” (31). The dedication of Peg’s parents fuels them to break a strict “no milk” rule and sneak Peg’s requested milkshake into the hospital. Although milk products increase the risk of choking in polio patients, this transgression on the part of Peg’s parents turns out to be life-saving, for Peg is motivated to eat more than before and her temperature drops within the hour. The milkshake that might have saved Peg’s life is a symbol of the impact that continued support, trust, and love can have throughout recovery.

Just as positive connections prove beneficial to a patient’s recovery, negative or antagonistic experiences can have a devastating effect. For example, the initial doctor who treats Peg after her polio diagnosis is detrimental in his communication, causing her to wonder “if he was describing [her] or a horse” (24). The doctor’s objectivity makes her feel more like an object than the unique, individual human being she is. Similarly, when her nurse refuses to turn her over in bed and instead scolds Peg for inconveniencing her by calling out in pain, Peg’s despair grows. The situation once again triggers Peg’s self-pitying desire to go home, but “along with the rover of homesickness that flowed through [her] veins came a trickle of indignation” (36). Rather than succumb to the disease and the will of the nurse as many patients might have done, Peg’s anger fuels her desire to recover. Peg’s choices following the detrimental treatment from the nurse evidence the stubborn, rebellious, and dedicated characteristics central to her personality. Peg’s motivation and positivity are tested most by Mrs. Crab whose physical therapy methods are harsh and unsympathetic. Peg often screams and begs to no avail, and eventually Mrs. Crab’s lack of compassion or support leads to Peg’s aversion to therapy. It is through the positive encouragement of Dr. Bevis that Peg finds the connection she needs, for his compassion changes “[her] behavior far more effectively than the therapist’s constant scolding” (62). Miss Ballard’s compassion and support provide a beneficial contrast to Mrs. Crab’s harmful disposition, and Miss Ballard’s kind approach further strengthens the new trust that Peg feels toward her caretakers; this gives Peg the comfort and confidence she needs to push herself further each time.

Peg’s rocky adjustment to the “normal” world after graduating from rehabilitation, moving home, and returning to school illustrates that recovery doesn’t end when a person is released from the hospital, but rather can go on for months or years. Likewise, that same need for connection and support extends well beyond physical recovery. Visits from Peg’s school friends are strained because they stare at her walking sticks and want to gossip about her experiences with polio, instead of having normal conversations. Rather than feeling at home and at peace with her old friends, their heightened interest in her polio over her personal life only succeeds at alienating and isolating her further. Likewise, when Peg returns to the Sheltering Arms for her weekly checkup and visits her old roommates, she realizes that she doesn’t quite belong with them either, and her decreased communication and daily interaction with her roommates separates her from the internal support system that was vital to her rehabilitation. Despite her struggles to readjust to her new lifestyle, however, Peg maintains lifelong contact with her Sheltering Arms roommates and is also warmly welcomed back into her original community with love and care.