Dr Y.R. Krishnaswamy: Polio stories - personal recollections of the polio epidemic of the 1940s and 1950s

This recollection was kindly contributed by Dr Y.R. Krishnaswamy, Dunedin.

My polio
My story of polio is a long one. I was very young when polio got me. I probably was a three or four-year-old kid, and I do not remember the actual origin of my sickness. I vaguely remember travelling with my father and grandmother on a train from Bangalore to Bombay (now Mumbai), India, for the management. My father was a GP in a small town called Mandya, about 50km from Mysore. My mother told me that I was taken to a Mumbai hospital for proper assessment and brought back with a below-knee calipers attached to a boot to my right leg.

She had told me the story that one day I developed a high fever lasting for a few days and was given an injection since Malaria was prevalent in the community. The next day, my mum noticed that I failed to stand upright and walk. She felt devastated with extreme sorrow when she realised that my right leg was paralysed and unable to walk. From that day onwards various kinds of treatment ensued – fish liver oil message, passive exercises and trying every method available to make me put a few steps. And gradually, over months or weeks, I regained some power in my right leg and started putting a few steps with a limp. I could hardly realise that my weak leg was precluding me from walking like others. But my parents and grandparents were concerned about my inability to walk normally. Bombay was too far to travel from my father's place of practice, Mandya. He decided to take me to Holdsworth Memorial in Mysore, closer to Mandya. There, an Irish surgeon Dr Frank Tovey examined me with a lot of interest. He may now be in his 90s and a great surgeon, having worked with leprosy patients and researching peptic ulcer disease. We need many more doctors like him dedicated to their patients. He, too, prescribed the same type of calipers with a slightly raised sole and offered to do an operation to prevent the drop-foot deformity. However, my father and uncle thought the surgery would be very little help as I was already up and walking with the calipers without discomfort.
I started going to school as usual with an exemption from physical education conducted in stadiums: I could not participate in running, football, high jump, long jump, marchpast and no, no, no, nothing. I used to sit in a distant, shady location, chat with friends, and watch others play. I confined myself to classrooms and private home tuition as my father thought the school teaching was unsatisfactory!
The school was close by, just half a kilometre from our home, and I could walk to the school and return home like other boys. Other kids used to mock and taunt me for walking with the calipers, but I paid the slightest attention to those taunts. As I grew up, I learned cycling and started to use the bicycle to go to high school and college. From then onwards, my bicycle became my permanent mode of mobility transport, even for a short distance. One of my classmates who didn't have a bicycle to go to school used to take me as a pillion rider at the back carrier-frame every day to the school and back. It was beneficial for both of us. He could use my bicycle to go to school, and I was getting an effortless, relaxed ride without exerting my legs to peddle to the school and back. And that continued for some years into my college days. After finishing the high school and pre-university courses, I was lucky to get into Medicine. And there again, my bicycle was my permanent mode of disability transport. I would look for a remote small entry gate away from the sight of others and for a small hidden corner on wide corridors to park my bicycle as close to the ward as possible – but I always made sure my bicycle was out of sight of others! Nobody objected to bringing my bicycle inside the long open corridors on the hospital's ground floor. The distance between the bicycle parking area and the hospital was far by my polio standard. But, it was nothing for all others – everybody was walking upright effortlessly and confidently, except me!
I completed my medical course with an MBBS, and that's not enough as one had to specialise in being more acceptable in the established stratification. I decided to enter Internal Medicine and got a place to do MD (Doctor of Medicine) in General Medicine (Internal Medicine - adults). It was such an all-consuming hectic course that it took away my leisure time for severe studies and writing a dissertation before the final exam. My professors were helpful, accommodative of my shortcomings, and corrected me wherever necessary. But the speciality of General Medicine is too vast, and it sapped all my energy before I could come out successfully in the end. And while all this was happening, my parents wanted me to get married as early as possible. Not long my journey started as a physician in various hospitals in India, Africa, the Caribbean and Papua New Guinea. In the meantime, we made New Zealand our home, with our daughter continuing her education and my wife staying with her with all the support she could offer while she was at the school and university.
Now I am reaching my retiring years with my fatigue restricting me from vigorous physical activity because of the late effects of polio (LEoP). My physical endurance, mainly walking without support such as a rollator-walker, has progressively fallen over several years. I cannot walk for more than 10 minutes without the aid of some sort. I quickly grab a baggage or shopping trolley as a walker while shopping or moving around within airports. I must know my limitation and be within my endurance capacity, and I must plan and pace myself in between if I must walk long distances. With the walker, I can walk at least 1 km easily.
Though I have reached a retiring stage, I do not consider myself retired. I want to be active in society and contribute as long as possible to the health sector while ensuring I remain fit and well amidst the covid threats. I must keep visiting orthotics when required, and the Dunedin orthotics is friendly and conducive to my needs - repairing, replacing, and adjusting my calipers and boots until I feel comfortable with the walking. I appreciate their patient approach and repeated trials to make my calipers and boot satisfying for me.
Every polio has a unique story as each polio is different in its severity and ensuing disability. I am lucky, I have a lot of support coming from my wife Sumithra and daughter Mrudula (Dula), which makes my life comfortable, secure and confident.
Dr Krishna