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| November 15, 2007 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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,t00/hat s Cookin'?
00rry stirs up polio awaren
erBEyeCa?AoWfEwLoLndSering, 58. ...... "' .. i'. "..' .!'
M'old Larry Julius finally had
:t, ation: He isn t crazy after-
-lie's just another polio survi-
, .still -suffer, ing from the after-
.,,,: And he s not alone.
t"A lot of people like me have
ldered whether we are crazy. "There's a lot of people out there
Lare a small but significant sub-
up within our society. Typical- ::
/m, We are over 50 years old, type-A
"k°aalities, have accomplished
Jy? during our life,,.nd usually
aave retired early, Larry says
YfE: fellow polio sur00vors.
g] ou usually would never know
I-I
king at us that we belong
' 'secretive sub-group of so-
Many of our members do
ever know that they belong to
b group. You would think this
pup numbering about 35,000
Ple in
Washington State would
rVery confident of their sanity if
1 knew one of us personally, he
iues.
B E ut suffering from some degree
Post polio syndrome - or PPS
carl take its toll on a body even
,.. hem a?eP°h ° ?;:°: h:Vo
don't even realize they ever
]k Polio, even though it's argu-
the number-one debilitating
gOus system disease in the
_ ]tld, he adds.
EJ,ty HAPPENS to be a
ic case of PPS. In 1951, when
Was just 7 years old, he was di-
,ed with polio. In those days,
,,.msease reached epidemic pro-
.'lF..Ons, infecting thousands of
dren as young as 6 months of
, while frightening just about
:ione.
Larents didn't know how it
g transmitted and didn:t want
t kids leave the house,' Larry
elnbers. Many people thought
t as transmitted through water,
.tlgh it actually spreads from
rlon to person.
lit took Larry about two years
tecover from the disease. "Af-
he paralysis, hospitalization s
aical therapy and two year
earing a leg brace I thought
, t the disease and was per-
ly normal. My schools, doctors,
/ill . Army ... everyone ... thought
' I'cured' and 'normal.'"
e remembers his recovery be-
.sirailar to a scene from the
%e Forrest Gump, though not
]. as dramatic as in his case he
M finally able to walk without
braces.
ICADES LATER, starting in
, PPS reared its ugly head in
glife again. By then, Larry was
.g in Mason County and his
r dutifully recorded his an-
L Complaints of worsening fa-
, muscle weakness and joint
| T,,ems.
I had experienced these symp-
before 1983, but by then they
i e bad enough for me to bring"it
;ly doctor's attention. He said I
Just getting older," Larry re-
. Even his former wife, a reg-
ed nurse, thought he was sim-
cling the onset of aging.'
don't blame either for not
ng about PPS. ,,Generally, no
kUew back then, he notes. In
, he says, many current doc-
oaren't sufficiently trained in
u or PPS. However, the symp-
IyW:en't adding up to him and
,2". gan to question his own
tal health.
fl feel so horrible inside, and
!ook perfectly normal on the
lde"
, he explains.
IALLY A BRIEF newspa-
LADLE IN HAND, Larry Julius especially relishes the
kitchen in the home he designed himself.
per article about polio led him to
begin personally researching and
reading up about his childhood
disease.
"When would I ever have found
out about PPS if it weren't for the
Internet and all the information
you can find out there?" he won-
ders. He pored over hundreds of
articles about PPS.
A virus causes polio, which has
been all but eliminated in the
United States after the develop-
ment and distribution of the Sulk
vaccine since 1955. New cases of
polio still break out in many other
countries today, due to a lack of
vaccinations there and in some
Third World countries "medicine
men" don't endorse vaccines.
"We've come a long ways,"
Larry says. "If we could kill polio
completely throughout the whole
world, then it's possible it will
never come back."
"SINCE POLIO was eradicat-
ed about 50 years ago in the U.S.,
many if not practically all practic-
ing doctors knew nothing about
PPS until just the past few years,"
Larry says. Polio survivors suffer
PPS "attacks" about 20 to 30 years
after their personal bout with po-
lio. The most common symptoms
include devastating fatigue, total
body exhaustion, muscle weak-
ness and joint pain.
All of the symptoms, Larry
points out, are similar to the nor-
mal aging process but happen
much sooner in polio survivors.
This phenomenon is due to the
fact that their body's cells are do-
ing 500 times as much work as
they were designed to do on a nor-
mal person, leading to premature
aging.
One of Larry's friends, a fellow
PPS victim, was 50 but said he felt
like he was 85. "You can't tell by
looking at people," he says. "I'm
really shocked I made it as long as
I did." As it is, Larry found himself
feeling so exhausted he would fall
asleep on his desk at work. He's
heard of others feeling fatigue set
in as they're behind the wheel.
"They just want to get home
before they cause an accident," he
says.
the
[Iolidays!
OuR HOUSE oRYouas...
bine In * Take Out * Catering
WHILE THERE is no known
cure for PPS, doctors are now com-
ing to the conclusion that many
people who suffer chronic fatigue
syndrome might have had mild
cases of polio when they where
younger. In lighter cases of' the
disease, people could have thought
they just had the flu and wouldn't
have experienced any paralysis,
but could still be susceptible to
PPS.
"Once I started to learn about
PPS, I started to spread the word
to anyone who would listen," he re-
calls. He joined the Polio Outreach
Of Washington, or POOW, in the
latter part of the 19908. A certi-
fied public accountant, Larry also
started an outreach group at the
agency where he and more than
7,000 employees worked.
"I'm the only one that has an
outreach group through a work
place," he says. He retired from
the accounting services office of
the Washington Department of
Transportation in June and then
resigned from his position as
POOW group leader of the state
capital employees.
"In my old age I've become a
little bit of an activist, I guess," he
says.
ON THE OTHER hand, seeing
everyone else attending the POOW
meetings in wheelchairs compels
him to keep other PPS survivors
from this fate. "Our motto is: 'con-
serve in order to preserve,' " he
says. This means exercise is the
worst thing someone with PPS can
do to their body. They want to try
to conserve their muscles and en-
ergy as much as possible.
Larry has contacted around a
hundred other people with PPS.
He always appreciates meeting
other people sharing his situation
and they appreciate him sharing
that didn't know they had polio or
maybe they knew they had polio
and never made the connection,"
he says. Without awareness, he
is concerned they may end up in a
wheelchair again.
IN BOTH 2000 and 2001, the
Washington Legislature passed
joint resolutions recognizing the
plight of polio survivors in this
state and the need fbr the medical
community to learn about PPS.
Articles began appearing to edu-
cate medical professionals.
"During the past 10 years a lot
of information about PPS has been
disseminated," Larry says.
Anyone interested in talking to
Larry about PPS may send him
an e-mail at: LJulius600@aol,
com. Larry also recommends do-
ing research on-line. "It's amazing
how much intbrmation about PPS
there is out there now," he says.
Although he's running on lower
energy, Larry has still managed to
go pretty far in his life. He raised
four children, Adam, Alex, Cristie,
and Laura, three of whom gradu-
ated from Shelton High School.
He spent three years coaching his
children's baseball team. That was
before he knew how badly he could
hurt himself by overexerting him-
self. "I don't overdo it as bad as I
used to," he says.
LARRY'S OWN educational
career includes undergraduate
degrees from Washington State
University and the University of
Puget Sound, as well as a master's
degree from Pacific Lutheran Uni-
versity.
When he finished his under-
graduate studies in 1968, he went
on to serve in the Vietnam War
as a sergeant in the U.S. Army's
First Cavalry for two years before
entering graduate school. During
his time in service, he earned an
air medal fbr combat assaults m a
helicopter.
Larry considers himself to be
very conservative, and believes
* CHICKEN * BRISKET " RIBS
Kennedy Creek Road SW 913 Capitol Way South
Hwy. 8 Downtown Olympia
753-0505
866-8704
te menus available at www'ranchh°usebbq'net
ess
combat has its place. "I hate war
like everybody else; I hate killing,"
he says. "It's a necessary evil to go
to war, but nobody goes into com-
bat withodt getting hurt."
Now, besides being an activitst
fbr polio, Larry's also a big activit-
ist for veterans. "I love veterans,"
he says. About eight years ago,
Larry launched annual displays
honoring veterans in the state
capitol for every Veterans' and
Memorial Day.
"I HELP A LOT of older vets,
any vet," he says. "If there's a vet
out there that needs help, I'll help
them ."
OLYMPIC COLLEGE
Shelton
937 W. Alpine Way, Shetn, WA
Purchase a Regency, Hampton or Excalibur gas fireplace or gas insert between October 17 and
December 3, 2007 and receive a free brick panel set. P42, P121 and P131 are not included in this
promotion as these units have brick panels as a standard feature. Herringbone brick panels are
not eligible. Offer is valid until December 3rd, 2007. Dates may vary by dealer.
li. "lffnlt/nfl Ttm FMmm Fm" Every aowt"
HERITAGE0000
," FIRIPILACl ,XOH. INC. *
(360) 779-3066 19410 Viking Ave. NW • Poulsbo (Across from Pouisbo RV)
360) 377-6655 40g0 W.St.Hwy. 6 • Bremerton (At Gorst on Waterside)
206) 842-9356 www.hedtagefireplaceshop.€om
I I
LOOSE
DENTURES?
Can't eat?
We have the
MODERN
SOLUTION!
* Fast * Affordable * Easy
"These are not your
grandma and grandpa's
For a complimentary
consult, call...
(3.) 426-9711
dentures ..." William J. Busacca, DDS, PS
DOCS
American Dental Association
Academy of General Dentistry
American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
1525 Olympic Hwy. North, Shclton,WA 98584
The Smile Express
Thursday, November 15, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 15
,t00/hat s Cookin'?
00rry stirs up polio awaren
erBEyeCa?AoWfEwLoLndSering, 58. ...... "' .. i'. "..' .!'
M'old Larry Julius finally had
:t, ation: He isn t crazy after-
-lie's just another polio survi-
, .still -suffer, ing from the after-
.,,,: And he s not alone.
t"A lot of people like me have
ldered whether we are crazy. "There's a lot of people out there
Lare a small but significant sub-
up within our society. Typical- ::
/m, We are over 50 years old, type-A
"k°aalities, have accomplished
Jy? during our life,,.nd usually
aave retired early, Larry says
YfE: fellow polio sur00vors.
g] ou usually would never know
I-I
king at us that we belong
' 'secretive sub-group of so-
Many of our members do
ever know that they belong to
b group. You would think this
pup numbering about 35,000
Ple in
Washington State would
rVery confident of their sanity if
1 knew one of us personally, he
iues.
B E ut suffering from some degree
Post polio syndrome - or PPS
carl take its toll on a body even
,.. hem a?eP°h ° ?;:°: h:Vo
don't even realize they ever
]k Polio, even though it's argu-
the number-one debilitating
gOus system disease in the
_ ]tld, he adds.
EJ,ty HAPPENS to be a
ic case of PPS. In 1951, when
Was just 7 years old, he was di-
,ed with polio. In those days,
,,.msease reached epidemic pro-
.'lF..Ons, infecting thousands of
dren as young as 6 months of
, while frightening just about
:ione.
Larents didn't know how it
g transmitted and didn:t want
t kids leave the house,' Larry
elnbers. Many people thought
t as transmitted through water,
.tlgh it actually spreads from
rlon to person.
lit took Larry about two years
tecover from the disease. "Af-
he paralysis, hospitalization s
aical therapy and two year
earing a leg brace I thought
, t the disease and was per-
ly normal. My schools, doctors,
/ill . Army ... everyone ... thought
' I'cured' and 'normal.'"
e remembers his recovery be-
.sirailar to a scene from the
%e Forrest Gump, though not
]. as dramatic as in his case he
M finally able to walk without
braces.
ICADES LATER, starting in
, PPS reared its ugly head in
glife again. By then, Larry was
.g in Mason County and his
r dutifully recorded his an-
L Complaints of worsening fa-
, muscle weakness and joint
| T,,ems.
I had experienced these symp-
before 1983, but by then they
i e bad enough for me to bring"it
;ly doctor's attention. He said I
Just getting older," Larry re-
. Even his former wife, a reg-
ed nurse, thought he was sim-
cling the onset of aging.'
don't blame either for not
ng about PPS. ,,Generally, no
kUew back then, he notes. In
, he says, many current doc-
oaren't sufficiently trained in
u or PPS. However, the symp-
IyW:en't adding up to him and
,2". gan to question his own
tal health.
fl feel so horrible inside, and
!ook perfectly normal on the
lde"
, he explains.
IALLY A BRIEF newspa-
LADLE IN HAND, Larry Julius especially relishes the
kitchen in the home he designed himself.
per article about polio led him to
begin personally researching and
reading up about his childhood
disease.
"When would I ever have found
out about PPS if it weren't for the
Internet and all the information
you can find out there?" he won-
ders. He pored over hundreds of
articles about PPS.
A virus causes polio, which has
been all but eliminated in the
United States after the develop-
ment and distribution of the Sulk
vaccine since 1955. New cases of
polio still break out in many other
countries today, due to a lack of
vaccinations there and in some
Third World countries "medicine
men" don't endorse vaccines.
"We've come a long ways,"
Larry says. "If we could kill polio
completely throughout the whole
world, then it's possible it will
never come back."
"SINCE POLIO was eradicat-
ed about 50 years ago in the U.S.,
many if not practically all practic-
ing doctors knew nothing about
PPS until just the past few years,"
Larry says. Polio survivors suffer
PPS "attacks" about 20 to 30 years
after their personal bout with po-
lio. The most common symptoms
include devastating fatigue, total
body exhaustion, muscle weak-
ness and joint pain.
All of the symptoms, Larry
points out, are similar to the nor-
mal aging process but happen
much sooner in polio survivors.
This phenomenon is due to the
fact that their body's cells are do-
ing 500 times as much work as
they were designed to do on a nor-
mal person, leading to premature
aging.
One of Larry's friends, a fellow
PPS victim, was 50 but said he felt
like he was 85. "You can't tell by
looking at people," he says. "I'm
really shocked I made it as long as
I did." As it is, Larry found himself
feeling so exhausted he would fall
asleep on his desk at work. He's
heard of others feeling fatigue set
in as they're behind the wheel.
"They just want to get home
before they cause an accident," he
says.
the
[Iolidays!
OuR HOUSE oRYouas...
bine In * Take Out * Catering
WHILE THERE is no known
cure for PPS, doctors are now com-
ing to the conclusion that many
people who suffer chronic fatigue
syndrome might have had mild
cases of polio when they where
younger. In lighter cases of' the
disease, people could have thought
they just had the flu and wouldn't
have experienced any paralysis,
but could still be susceptible to
PPS.
"Once I started to learn about
PPS, I started to spread the word
to anyone who would listen," he re-
calls. He joined the Polio Outreach
Of Washington, or POOW, in the
latter part of the 19908. A certi-
fied public accountant, Larry also
started an outreach group at the
agency where he and more than
7,000 employees worked.
"I'm the only one that has an
outreach group through a work
place," he says. He retired from
the accounting services office of
the Washington Department of
Transportation in June and then
resigned from his position as
POOW group leader of the state
capital employees.
"In my old age I've become a
little bit of an activist, I guess," he
says.
ON THE OTHER hand, seeing
everyone else attending the POOW
meetings in wheelchairs compels
him to keep other PPS survivors
from this fate. "Our motto is: 'con-
serve in order to preserve,' " he
says. This means exercise is the
worst thing someone with PPS can
do to their body. They want to try
to conserve their muscles and en-
ergy as much as possible.
Larry has contacted around a
hundred other people with PPS.
He always appreciates meeting
other people sharing his situation
and they appreciate him sharing
that didn't know they had polio or
maybe they knew they had polio
and never made the connection,"
he says. Without awareness, he
is concerned they may end up in a
wheelchair again.
IN BOTH 2000 and 2001, the
Washington Legislature passed
joint resolutions recognizing the
plight of polio survivors in this
state and the need fbr the medical
community to learn about PPS.
Articles began appearing to edu-
cate medical professionals.
"During the past 10 years a lot
of information about PPS has been
disseminated," Larry says.
Anyone interested in talking to
Larry about PPS may send him
an e-mail at: LJulius600@aol,
com. Larry also recommends do-
ing research on-line. "It's amazing
how much intbrmation about PPS
there is out there now," he says.
Although he's running on lower
energy, Larry has still managed to
go pretty far in his life. He raised
four children, Adam, Alex, Cristie,
and Laura, three of whom gradu-
ated from Shelton High School.
He spent three years coaching his
children's baseball team. That was
before he knew how badly he could
hurt himself by overexerting him-
self. "I don't overdo it as bad as I
used to," he says.
LARRY'S OWN educational
career includes undergraduate
degrees from Washington State
University and the University of
Puget Sound, as well as a master's
degree from Pacific Lutheran Uni-
versity.
When he finished his under-
graduate studies in 1968, he went
on to serve in the Vietnam War
as a sergeant in the U.S. Army's
First Cavalry for two years before
entering graduate school. During
his time in service, he earned an
air medal fbr combat assaults m a
helicopter.
Larry considers himself to be
very conservative, and believes
* CHICKEN * BRISKET " RIBS
Kennedy Creek Road SW 913 Capitol Way South
Hwy. 8 Downtown Olympia
753-0505
866-8704
te menus available at www'ranchh°usebbq'net
ess
combat has its place. "I hate war
like everybody else; I hate killing,"
he says. "It's a necessary evil to go
to war, but nobody goes into com-
bat withodt getting hurt."
Now, besides being an activitst
fbr polio, Larry's also a big activit-
ist for veterans. "I love veterans,"
he says. About eight years ago,
Larry launched annual displays
honoring veterans in the state
capitol for every Veterans' and
Memorial Day.
"I HELP A LOT of older vets,
any vet," he says. "If there's a vet
out there that needs help, I'll help
them ."
OLYMPIC COLLEGE
Shelton
937 W. Alpine Way, Shetn, WA
Purchase a Regency, Hampton or Excalibur gas fireplace or gas insert between October 17 and
December 3, 2007 and receive a free brick panel set. P42, P121 and P131 are not included in this
promotion as these units have brick panels as a standard feature. Herringbone brick panels are
not eligible. Offer is valid until December 3rd, 2007. Dates may vary by dealer.
li. "lffnlt/nfl Ttm FMmm Fm" Every aowt"
HERITAGE0000
," FIRIPILACl ,XOH. INC. *
(360) 779-3066 19410 Viking Ave. NW • Poulsbo (Across from Pouisbo RV)
360) 377-6655 40g0 W.St.Hwy. 6 • Bremerton (At Gorst on Waterside)
206) 842-9356 www.hedtagefireplaceshop.€om
I I
LOOSE
DENTURES?
Can't eat?
We have the
MODERN
SOLUTION!
* Fast * Affordable * Easy
"These are not your
grandma and grandpa's
For a complimentary
consult, call...
(3.) 426-9711
dentures ..." William J. Busacca, DDS, PS
DOCS
American Dental Association
Academy of General Dentistry
American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
1525 Olympic Hwy. North, Shclton,WA 98584
The Smile Express
Thursday, November 15, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 15