Not Short of Amazing
December 1996
You don’t have to take my word for it. Take my doctor’s; the words of my pulmonologist as written on his report sent to my G.P. “Not short of amazing” he said. Written down. Right there on the report. What was he talking about?.....
A couple weeks after my friend, Sharman, came back from the Futures Unlimited clinic in Mississippi, and showed such marvelous improvement, I called my sister, Marg, and told her where Sharman had gone and the wonderful results she was enjoying. Marg agreed that it was wonderful indeed, then asked, “Well, are you planning to go?”
“Yes, but - ,” I began.
“We’ll take you.”
And so there were no more “buts.” In a few short weeks I was on my way to Mississippi, comfortably ensconced in Marg & Lloyd’s “fifth-wheel” RV. We left Spokane on October 4 and arrived back November 7.
Mr. Ed Snapp has developed a program that provides the environment and stimulation that the central nervous system needs to correct itself . Nothing can be done about the nerves the polio killed, but something can be done about the nerves and muscles we still have, but which have lost their ability to communicate with each other.
I didn’t go to "Futures" expecting great things. I couldn’t predict what would happen. I just knew that as surely as the Lord had put the trip to "Futures" together as I could never have done, I knew the results were also in his hands, and they would be right. Right for me and for what I try to do for all of you. But would the results be physical improvement? Maybe not. Statistics were on my side, but as Ed Snapp himself told me, “There are no guarantees.” So far, 85% of the clinic’s post-polio patients have had some improvement -- lasting improvement, I might add. That’s good odds, but still no sure thing. Not all as exceptional as Sharman’s, either. So, I am more surprised than anybody at the extent of what I gained. But what a nice surprise!
I'm not cured; I still have PPS. But I sure am a whole lot better! This is how I usually respond to friends who ask me what the changes have been. I now have new:
INDEPENDENCE. After five years of arms and legs too weak to drive, I am now driving myself everywhere I want to go - - even in this snow!
FREEDOM. I no longer need the BiPAP respirator I was using 15 hours out of 24. It was like an umbilical cord, pulling me back home by noon, and not letting me go anywhere until after 4:00 p.m. I can now join friends for lunch, or a show - or go myself!
CHOICES. With my new greater strength and energy, my choices of how to use my "good time" boggles imagination. Before, active mind-&-body time was so narrow, my choices of how to use it, beyond the basics, were very few. Now, I can shop, cook, wash dishes, play a game, write a friend a hand-written letter, concentrate on a good book, play tug-of-war with my dog and all sorts of things.
Yes, it’s true. The improvement is not short of amazing.
_______________________________
2008 Update: Yes, the treatment lasts! Many years after treatment at "Futures", I am still driving, am free from a respirator, able to shop, cook, walk, wash dishes, etc. If you have post-polio syndrome, PLEASE check them out!.
