West Torrens Rotary visit

We recently attended a meeting with West Torrens Rotary Club, Ron Blackwell (Polio SA committee member) and his wife Ray. Helen Leach (Polio SA community & membership officer).

It was a very enjoyable evening, and we did a guest talk on Polio SA and Ron about his Polio experience. The members were attentive, and we thank them for their time.

We have been invited along to other events with Rotary also but due to coronavirus situation they had to be cancelled. We look forward to more collaboration with Rotary.

Also, you can check out the Rotary Ute travelling around details are on their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/PolioUteRelay

Over 80 Rotary clubs in the district will be involved as they hold events along the route, designed to encourage community participation and involvement. There is also a raffle with tickets sold by all Clubs.

The ute will start its journey in Alice Springs on World Polio Day 24th October wending its way back to SA, possibly to Broken Hill then back to SA, ending in Adelaide on December 19 with the raffle draw.

Update from Polio Australia

Hello to our South Australian friends. What an interesting few weeks you’ve had!

We hope you’re all safe and well and looking forward to the festive season.

Health Professional Education

Michael is continuing to do online sessions for health professionals, including a session on the 12th of January.

To view the list of sessions, go to www.poliohealth.org.au/workshops/

and encourage your health professionals to attend!

An in-person workshop was scheduled for December, but unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Please watch for updates at www.poliohealth.org.au/workshops/

Polio Survivor Community

We have continued to meet virtually over the last few months. This has been a great way to connect while we’ve been unable to travel. To view upcoming sessions, go to www.polioaustralia.org.au/community-information-sessions/

But 2021 is a whole new year, and we’re very hopeful we can do some in-person sessions in SA! We will begin to organise these in the new year thanks to a grant we received jointly with Polio SA from Grants SA.

If you particularly want us to come to your area, or you have a venue suggestion, please get in touch.

Polio Awareness Month

We had a great Polio Awareness Month in October – weekly Zoom chats, a “treasure hunt”, and some media exposure to raise awareness of the Late Effects of Polio. For a summary of the month’s activities, and to view an excellent Polio Awareness Month timeline slideshow, go to www.polioaustralia.org.au/polio-awareness-month

Best wishes to you all for the season.

From the Polio Australia team

AGM 2020 Thank you

Thank you to all our members who attended our AGM in September 2020. Thank you to all our committee members and special thanks to our guest speaker’s Dr Nigel Quadros & TADSA. Technology for Ageing and Disability South Australia.

 These are details of our committee that was decided at the Polio SA Inc AGM 27th September 2020

Peter Wierenga  President/Treasurer

Nik Surikov Vice President

Helen Leach Secretary/Community & Membership Officer

Jo Gordon

Ron Blackwell

Trevor Jessop

Julia Greeneklee

Charles Greeneklee

Pam Stace

Platelet rich plasma treatment

By Lynda Shaw

I am a 65-year-old lady originally from Ghana, West Africa, but I have been living in Australia since 1980. I contracted polio at one year of age. The polio severely damaged muscles on the right side of my body, especially my leg. As a consequence, I have a pronounced limp and since 2000, walk with the aid of a walking stick.

I have suffered pain in my left, unaffected, hip for the last seven years resulting from the increased stress placed on that hip through having to perform most of the weight bearing requirements when standing and walking.

I was receiving cortisone injections annually as part of accepted medical treatment to relieve hip pain stemming from wear and tear caused by overuse. However, as advised by my doctor, the cortisone was only a medium term solution being as it only masked the pain and tended to lead to continued overuse of the affected area and ultimately further damage.

The eventual requirement would be for a hip replacement.

A couple of years ago a friend told me about an innovative treatment known as Platelet Rich

Plasma (PRP) and suggested that I should try it for my hip pain. After making an appointment at the Wakefield Sports Clinic I waited eight months to meet with Dr Ramona Chryssidis, one of very few doctors specialising in this treatment in South Australia.

The PRP is derived by centrifuging a sample of the patient’s own blood to concentrate

platelets. The PRP is then injected, with the aid of an ultrasound to the identified areas of

tissue damage. It is believed that the platelets secrete substances called growth factors and

other proteins that regulate cell division and stimulate tissue regeneration to promote healing and accelerate the healing of injured (affected) tendon, ligaments, muscles, joints etc.

I had my first treatment in April 2019 and within a matter of days I noticed that I could get up from a sitting position easily and without pain. Prior to the PRP treatment I took Meloxicam (Mobic), a prescription anti-inflammatory medication, almost daily and paracetamol in between. However, since the treatment I rarely take any medication at all.

I have since had a second series of injections of PRP (at my insistence) prior to a road trip to

Queensland in December 2019 to be sure I would be ok for the long trip.

In May this year (2020) I had a top up of Medical Glucose injections (via ultrasound) as recommended by Dr Chryssidis because I was experiencing mild ache in the hip. The glucose is understood to re-activate the previous injection and stimulate the body’s natural healing process, and it did just that.

I can honestly say this treatment worked for me and would highly recommend that others with similar issues consider trying it.

 Nik tells a similar story   

A recent conversation with my physio, suggested that the reason PRP works is that it helps in joints, rather than muscle or tendons, with osteo-arthritis.

Ergo, knees and shoulders!

I have mine done at Symons and Fowler in Hutt Street. Shaun Fowler is the man.

Smart Health and Training, on Richmond Road [82931100] offer it as well. …. the practitioner is Ramona Chryssidis.

Readers probably should also go to the internet and look for “platelet rich plasma treatment.” There is information there, some very scientific.

When people talk to their doctor, they should not be put off by a negative response. Some doctors are just unaware of this treatment and don’t know better.

The beauty of the treatment is that there is nothing foreign or chemical being pumped in….it is all from one’s own blood.

Having said all of the above, there is a caveat……. PRP is not a 100% panacea for all.

The only way to find out if it is suitable, is to try it  !

An old Russian saying says: “if one doesn’t jump in the water, one doesn’t get wet!”

Hope this helps.   

Cheers, Nik Surikov

Anne Weddle - My Polio Story

From a tutu, to the library, MI5 and Adelaide. Anne’s classical story of determination

 I contracted polio during the epidemic in the UK in 1952 when I was 19. At the time I was at classical ballet school in London preparing for my final exams. My symptoms were severe back pain and stiffness in my legs so, no more dance classes.

After a few weeks of not knowing what ailed me, I went to see a specialist in my home city of Oxford. It was he who diagnosed Polio and arranged for me to go into hospital.

I spent about two months at the Wingfield Orthopaedic Hospital in Oxford receiving treatment in the way of swimming (being lowered into the pool and raised out of it by a sort of metal crane!) and other exercises. It soon became obvious that fortunately I had quite a mild case as my fellow-patients had much less movement than me, and many were in iron lungs.

It became quite clear that I would not grace the stage as a classical dancer, but I recovered enough to pass my exams as a teacher and went on to teach ballet part-time for the next 25 years. I was limited in what I could do myself – no elevation meant I could not perform all the movements but made use of a senior student, and a morning’s teaching saw me pretty whacked!

Part-time teaching ballet was not enough to sustain me in an independent life in London, so I worked at various other jobs over the next 30 or so years. I really have had a very exciting and varied career since those far-off days of 1952.

I started to train as a librarian but found that a bit boring – a girlfriend persuaded me to try for a clerical job at the War Office and when I was accepted as a filing clerk (very lowly pay!) I discovered I would be working for MI5!

And so there I stayed until 1957 when my daughter was born. When she was five years old and her little brother was only nine months, we all moved to a new life in Australia, first in Sydney for two  years and then settling permanently in South Australia.

We lived in the Adelaide foothills and with both children now at school I started my own ballet school, being still quite physically strong, though elevation did not come back, and I could never run.

It must have been in about the early 1980s that I began to realise some things were hard work, such as climbing up onto a chair or putting on tights! Then I heard something on radio about people who were getting polio-like symptoms again after many years. And so, very slowly, which was lucky for me, my physical strength began to deteriorate. My GP at the time had no knowledge of post-polio or Late Effects of Polio and, being in the country, there did not seem to be any help available. Luckily, I discovered Polio Oz online and Polio SA and realised I am only one of many thousands of polio survivors.

It seems grossly unfair and discriminatory to me that polio survivors over the age of 65 are not eligible for any benefits under the NDIS. WHY has our section of society been excluded? Is the government just waiting for us to disappear as we surely will?

I am now 86 and limited in movement but still enjoy a full life. I use a stick outside the house and trekking poles for short walks. Quite soon I will probably need a more expensive mobility aid, such as a scooter or powered wheelchair, but that will be very difficult without some government help.

I am very lucky in that my husband is an immense help to me and does far more than his share of household chores.

We both enjoy short walks and drives around our lovely corner of South Australia. It has been very enlightening and rewarding to participate in some ZOOM and webinar sessions, organised by Polio Oz and Polio SA recently and I feel I have made new friends right around the country.

Anne Weddle

Circa 1952 aged 18 Anne Weddle (formerly Thomas)

Polio SA Summer Newsletter 2020

World Polio Day 24th October 2020 - Join online Global Citizen event on 21st October 2020

The End Polio Now campaign is pushing for continued efforts towards polio eradication. Join Global Citizen and other members of the campaign on the 21st of October for their World Polio Day event, calling on continued action from the government. We'll also have a survivor of polio presenting on the long-term challenges of polio. Details and booking link: https://events.humanitix.com/worldpolioday2020

#Polio #EndPolioNow #PastPandemicSurvivors #WereStillHere #PostPolio #PolioAwarenessMonth

Congratulations Terry

Many Congratulations goes to Terry Haighton in recognition of receiving in the Queen’s Birthday awards this year, the SA Premier's Award in recognition for outstanding volunteer service. Terry helps her community especially the elderly and helps at Christmas celebrations within the Onkaparinga council area. Also, Terry while working full time, used to also spend hours per week including week-ends cleaning "Graffiti" around her local area.

Terry and Perec at home in her garden.

Polio Awareness Month - World Polio Day October 24th 2020

We would like to share in the same theme as Polio Australia.

The Annual Polio Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise the profile of Australia’s polio community and increase awareness about the Late Effects of Polio among health professionals and the wider public. After a vote at one of our recent Zoom meetings, our theme for this year is PPS: “Past Pandemic Survivors”*, highlighting two major points: polio survivors have lived through epidemic-induced isolation before, and Post-Polio Syndrome (PPS, known under the umbrella term Late Effects of Polio), affects thousands of Australians today.

Polio SA AGM Reminder 27th Sept 1pm Thebarton Community Centre

AGM Guest speakers Dr Nigel Quadros Bsc Hons, BMBS (Flinds), PhD (Flinds), FAFRM (RACP) Senior Consultant Rehabilitation Medicine The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Senior Clinical Lecturer Division of Medicine University of Adelaide

TADSA Technology Ageing and Disability South Australia Inc. https://tadsa.org.au/

Assistive equipment is any device or system that allows you to perform a task that you would otherwise be unable to do, or increases the ease and safety with which you can perform that task.It ranges from quite simple devices or modifications to more complex adaptive technology. Modifying wheelchairs, tables, work stations, clotheslines, walkers, cutlery, gardening tools or fishing rods – our team of skilled TADSA volunteers will work closely with you to adapt your device to work for you.

If there are no suitable products on the market we may be able to create a new innovative solution from scratch.  Contact us to find out if we can help you.