NOTE: This message was originally in conference "INTERNET - E-MAIL AREA"
      and was copied here by Tom Mckeever.
Date:         Wed, 5 Apr 1995 11:03:00 -0500
From:         alan.mitchell@ATLWIN.COM
Organization: Atlanta Windows BBS * 404-516-0048 * Boardwatch TOP 100 #33
Subject:      APPA Newsletter 10_1 part
To:           Multiple recipients of list POLIO 
I understand that only part of the APPA Newsletter got thru the systems.
I will try again to split the message into parts and resend in its
entirety.
Thanks, Tom Dempsey, for identifying the problem and the solution...
APPA News
Volume 10 Issue 1
JAN - MAR 1995
Board Members
Officers
   President
      Dick Weir
   First Vice President (Programs)
      Dick Collins
   Second Vice President
      Alan Mitchell
   Secretary
      Bonnie Bonham
   Treasurer
      Margo Gaithright-Dietrich
Members at Large
      Anne Askren
      Vickie Crowell
      Marc Gunter
      Cheryl Hollis
      Fay McCaw
      Betty Wright
Newsletter Editor
      Alan Mitchell
__________  __  __________
APPA News is published quarterly by the Atlanta Post-Polio
Association.  Please address all correspondence to:
Editor, APPA News 2020 Peachtree Road, NW Atlanta , GA 30309
Letters of general interest will be published in future issues as
space permits.  We reserve the right to edit all letters for
reasons of space and clarity.  We will withhold your name upon
request, but no unsigned letters will be accepted for
publication.  Opinions expressed in letters do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Atlanta Post-Polio Association.
_________  __  __________
Statement of Policy
APPA and APPA News do not express or imply endorsement of
physicians, products, seminars or services that are mentioned in
this newsletter.  They are mentioned simply as a public service
to polio survivors and those interested in them.  Articles
reflect the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily
reflect the official policy of the Atlanta Post- Polio
Association.
__________  __  __________
A Message from the President
APPA is well on its way into another active, and we hope for our
members, helpful and beneficial year. Thanks to Dick Collins, who
is in charge of our programs, our first three meetings of the
year have been excellent, and many more outstanding programs are
scheduled for the balance of the year. On January 30, FDR's
birthday, yours truly was invited to speak to several groups
touring The Little White House at Warm Springs, Ga. My "co-
speaker" for the day was Dr. Tom Wentland from Columbus College
in Columbus, Ga., who does an uncanny impersonation of FDR. I
must relay to you the question one fourth grader asked FDR/Dr.
Wentland: "Did you come down from heaven today just to see us?!"
A big celebration is planned at Warm Springs on April 12th, the
50th anniversary of FDR's death. I have been asked to represent
APPA and polio survivors at the dedication of the reopening of
the pools. They expect significant media coverage and any of you
living in the area are most welcome to attend. Bonnie Bonham has
our social calendar filling quickly, and I strongly urge everyone
who is able to attend these functions whenever possible. We
fellow "Polios" are a special group of people, I have learned
over the years, and speaking as one who has yet to miss one of
these gatherings the past two years, they are not only great fun,
they make very special memories. I urge everyone to send in their
yearly dues as soon as possible. Your Board works extremely hard
to minimize expenses, but the newsletter, resource center, and
the other benefits of joining APPA do cost some money. To those
of you who have already joined and sent in your dues for 1995,
thank you very much. For those of you who have not yet done so,
we hope you can mail us your check as soon as possible. In
closing, I would like to remind everyone that we are first and
foremost a support group. And that support comes from one member
to another. We are only as strong as our membership, so be
involved. Contribute of yourself whenever possible. It is a well
worn statement, but so true--the more you give, the more you will
receive. See you at the next meeting!! Dick Weir
__________  __  __________
Thoughts
A Potpourri of Life
Recently I wondered what to write about. Then two things
happened. A dear friend moved to Tennessee (out in the boonies).
She felt so isolated, things crawling in her basement, septic
system overflows and things going bump in the night. The other
happening was an article I read about being an eccentric. the
organization's philosophy directly from the person who instills
it daily within the operations of the facility. Expect this to be
a very informative session. Saturday, June 3 "Warm Springs--the
Past, Present and Future for the Warm Springs Institute" Dr. Paul
Peach, Medical Director for the Institute will be with us to
discuss what's happening at the Institute, services available,
and the treatment of Post-Polio Syndrome at Warm Springs. A
number of our members are patients of Dr. Peach, and others will
want to know what is going on at the first well-known center for
the treatment of polio. Join us for this excellent program. Dick
Collins Now what does being an eccentric have to do with
isolation? To me, the two things just connected and I never truly
realized it until today. It seems that my road to walk has
generally been isolation. Having had ALL of THOSE childhood
diseases, not once but sometimes twice put me behind that old
sign on the door "QUARANTINED" which isolated me from my peers.
It seemed to me I always had a sign over my door. Then came ring
worms with more isolation. Years later (present time), possibly
due to the treatments I had for ring worm, I have been isolated
from my friends at APPA. Then came POLIO. More isolation for
months, from family and friends, because of the word "Contagious"
(Again!) OK, what next? I found I seemed to be in a constant
struggle of always being different, no matter how hard I tried to
be the same as the rest of the world. This isolation I
experienced seems to me to be the situation today "having AIDS."
People react to a contagious disease the same. Do not come near
us, do not touch us, most of all, do not hug, hold, nor kiss us.
We were so untouchable, I guess. Were we so different? I must say
yes to this one. Was it any different from now? I don't think so.
I am now convinced that all of the above has given me the right
to be eccentric! I now march to a different drummer...do not
answer the phone before 11:00 AM, no matter what, and when the
rest of the world is thinking of lunch, I am thinking of morning
coffee. Then around 3:00 PM I feed my backyard birds (after my
housewife duties) in a pink terry cloth robe with red L.L. Bean
slippers and a blue scarf on my head. Eccentric? Yes..but you
know what, I would not change a thing, because I have grown to
love being different. I love the fact that I finally reached the
age of being an eccentric. And guess what-- it really has nothing
to do with having any illness. I feel justified in believing it
comes from all of life's experiences. Some run with it...some
despair of it. But personally, I revel in this phase of life.
From isolation to eccentricity. YES-S-S!! Shalom, Myrna
Whittington
__________  __  __________
APPA's Social Calendar
Watch for these upcoming events:
Wednesday, April 12 is the Warm Springs Dedication Ceremony of
the pools at Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center and Awards
Ceremony at the Little White House The activities are scheduled
for 10:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. We'll plan to car pool or meet as a
group to travel down to Warm Springs. We have reservations at
Bulloch House for lunch.
Saturday, May 20 is the Ultimate Oldies
Concert at the Dome. We'll plan to get tickets as a group and
meet early for a tailgate party. Be watching for more details.
__________  __  __________
Successful Living with Chronic Illness
Excerpts from a talk to
APPA by Ms. Kathleen Lewis on the subject of Successful Living
with Chronic Illness--Celebrating the Joys of Living. She has
written a book by the same title. Ms. Lewis graduated from
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has had 31 years of
nursing experience, after which she earned a Masters of Science
in Rehabilitation Counseling and completed the core content as a
Marriage and Family Therapist. But most important, Ms. Lewis
knows first hand about living with chronic illness since she was
diagnosed with lupus in 1978 When you're diagnosed with chronic
illness, it's as if you're thrown into a jungle of life different
from what you've ever known. All your skills--the doing stuff--
gets washed away. Your doing flows out of your being. If you try
the doing without the being, you don't have the energy to do it.
You can't make yourself do the things that aren't coming from
inside of you. Acute illness is an illness that rapidly reaches a
crisis, where there's a resolution--you have either a death or a
cure. It's short lived. Chronic illness is defined as permanent
and incurable, leaving a residual disability; is caused by
nonreversible pathological alteration in a person and will
require special training and rehabilitation to live with. There
may also be long periods of health problems after the diagnosis,
interspersed with periods of more severity, perhaps even stages
with terminal illness. What the public understands is that you
get sick, you get worse, then you die. Or you get sick, then you
get better and you're well. But with chronic illness, you may do
neither. You're going to live over a lifetime with fluctuating
health problems that come and go. Think about "success-full
living" with chronic illness because it is full living that is a
success. Success-full living may be coming to a meeting today, it
may be just making it through the day or combing your hair, or
putting on your clothes. We need to celebrate those things--
rather than gauging success by the world's standards. Chronic
illness can be seen as neuroticism. If we can't see it bold and
clear, it must be in your head. Chronic illness can be seen as
malingering. Initially, after a chronic illness, family members
want that person back the way they were, to fulfill the role that
they used to fill. Family members don't recognize that the
illness is real. Chronic illness can be seen as punishment. The
chronically ill person may ask, "What did I do wrong? Am I being
punished?" Illness is a part of life. Bad things that happen are
a part of life. What makes it successful living or unsuccessful
living is what we do with it: how we handle it, how we manage it,
how we use it as a way to learn about ourselves. Chronic illness
can become your identity. "Hi, I'm Mary Jones, I have post-
polio." Having a chronic illness can overwhelm you and become
your identity. It needs to be shrunk down, it needs to be
integrated to become a part of us--not all of us. Seven
challenges of living with a chronic illness: Duration. An acute
illness or terminal illness has a short duration, there's an end
in sight and life will get back to normal. Chronic illness lasts
a lifetime--it's ongoing, open-ended, unpredictable. You not only
deal with the stress of the illness, but the stress of working
with health professionals, insurance disability claims, family.
Support people need a break so it is important to have a broad
base of support. "Success-full" living with the duration of
chronic illness consists of choosing your attitude. Give yourself
provisional permission to try something and fail. Credibility
Gap. There may not be visible signs of illness. The credibility
gap may exist between you and your family, friends, even health-
care professionals and even with yourself. You need to learn that
you can't make someone understand or accept you. Acceptance
starts with you and goes out to the circle around you. Become
comfortable with your disability and then other people become
comfortable with you. Pacing. Chronic illness is a marathon.
Acute and terminal illness is more like a sprint. Just like in
running a marathon, a racer may hit "a wall", in living with
chronic illness you also may hit "a wall." That's when you become
angry, pass self judgment, maybe even contemplate suicide. It is
important to live life one day at a time and establish realistic
expectations. Independence, Dependence, Interdependence Balance .
You need to learn how to live in a way that balances out
dependence and independence. Accept your limitations, identify
your need for assistance and learn how to ask for it assertively.
Exercise. Exercise the mind, the body and the spirit. Find a way
to exercise wherever you are. Keep learning how to play, be
creative, curious. Grief Process. With chronic illness you have
to grieve your losses now, and then go back to living as a
totally different person.  Success in grieving your losses is to
learn to let go of the person you used to be and know that the
new you is OK, too. Handling Stress. With chronic illness, it
takes less to stress you and it stresses you more and you go up
the "stress spiral." The way to handle stress is to decrease your
demands or increase your resources. Successful living with a
chronic illness is learning how to kiss the joy of life. The joy
of life is a little butterfly. You can't crush it. Let it land
and leave, land and leave. To kiss the joy of life is to live in
the spirit, to live immediately, boldly, with gracious abandon,
daring to risk much, willing to give of oneself. And learn how to
be a state of being--a human being instead of a human doing.
Successful living with chronic illness is learning how to: Live
to the edge of your limitations without going over; Choose your
attitude in any situation or any circumstances; Live in the
present moment--one day, one moment, one millisecond at a time;
Live provisionally, giving yourself permission to fail; accept
and assume responsibility for yourself; Establish realistic
expectations and priorities for yourself and for others; Bargain
that co-dependency balance and get to interdependence- Exercise
physically, emotionally and spiritually every day, all day;
Grieve your losses and choose life on a daily basis; Live from
the inside out rather than the outside in. Choose life --
Celebrate Life daily and you will be successful in spite of
chronic illness.  Ms. Lewis' book, Successful Living With Chronic
Illness-Celebrating The Joys of Living, as well as  a tape of
this talk in its entirety is available through the APPA
Library/Resource Center. Bonnie Bonham
alan.mitchell          eMail: alan.mitchell@atlwin.com
Atlanta Georgia
* CMPQwk 1.42-21 1598 *CONGRESS.SYS Corrupted:  Re-boot Washington D.C (Y/n)?
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