POLIO VACCINE

I turned 5 years old, the house was sold and we moved back into the city. Time to start going to school. I was part intimitaded and at the same time excited. An 8 block walk! Mom took me the first time but told me - after that I was on my own. Very scary! Well it was pretty cool actually. Kids like me. Kids not like me. All wide eyed and in awe of the teacher. So we get out the crayons and colour. We sit while the teacher reads us a book. We learn how to connect the dots. Very interesting stuff. Kindergarten is a shoe in. Then comes Grade 1. Arithmetic, Reading and Writing. Fingernail inspections! Clean hands, clean mind. Then came the polio vaccinations. Terror! We all line up and wait our turn for the needle. There is a lot of crying going on but somehow I get through it. Only to find out a short time later, days, weeks, months, I don't remember, it was time to get another, then the BOOSTER! OUCH! School sucks big time!

The polio thing really interests me now though. In the dictionary it is called Poliomyelitis. It is described as (1) an acute infectious disease caused by a virus, characterized by symptoms ranging from fever, headaches, vomiting, etc. to extensive permanent paralysis of muscles.
(2) Any inflammation of the grey matter of the spinal cord. My little grey cells, what's left of them anyway, are extremely curious. Sounds like it shares some similarities to MS. Something for me to ponder.