You Can Make Belts

Ten years ago, I joined a southern company. One of the senior managers, Banks looks like a bald eagle with a broken foot. He has piercing eyes and as he walks, he jerks his left foot up and slaps it down causing him to list sideways.

Banks' and my family were living in other states. Both of us had apartments in towns near the office. Every month or so, either we would fly home, or our wives would come to visit. There were many nights after work when Banks and I had dinner together; we tried Indian, Mexican and western restaurants. During these conversations, I came to appreciate all Banks had accomplished and what he had overcome.

Banks said "I was raised in the South by an Italian family. I liked their sunny dispositions."

He feels a kinship with all Italians. He especially likes Al Pacino's smile and watches Emeril's cooking show on TV.

In the '50's, as a teenager, he developed a fever. One week later, his left leg was paralyzed. He was diagnosed with paralytic poliomyelitis. The treatment was moist heat packs to his leg, as well as physical therapy. He had a tough therapist who forced him to exercise and showed him no mercy. One day, the therapist was annoyed because Banks wasn't paying attention. Suddenly, she snapped at him: "OK, you can make BELTS." He thought about this for a while, then said to himself: "I know I don't want to make belts." So, from that day on, "I got motivated and earned straight A's in high school and college." Banks earned an M.D. and a Ph.D.

In the early 60's when many young men were avoiding the draft, he volunteered for Vietnam. He was stationed in Da Nang and worked in a hospital. I still feel guilty that I missed this war (I was a SP/5 (medic) in the Army Reserves) and was never activated.

He told me "when I returned home I taught myself to play trumpet and spent several years playing in jazz bands in New Orleans." He added: "I learned to fly a plane and got my pilot's license. Once, I was caught in a bad storm while flying. An air traffic controller talked me down safely. When I landed I went right up to that controller and gave him a check for $1,000 for saving my life."

He also learned to sail a 22 foot Catalina.

He told me "I never, ever backed down from an argument, because enough bad things happened to me in my life."

Banks' left leg is about 1 inch shorter than the right. He walks bent over, his left leg points outward, his left foot hangs touching the ground. As a result, his left hip, knee and ankle joints are deformed. He has great difficulty stepping off a curb or going down steps.

At 60 years old, Banks was dealt another blow-he developed post-polio syndrome, which causes decreased endurance, progressive muscle weakness and joint pain. Pain is due to overuse of certain joints and muscles to compensate for the lost use of other joints or muscles. The syndrome is thought to be due to a reactivation of the virus; it causes nerves to slowly disintegrate. It is estimated that 250,000 Americans who contracted polio in the '40s and '50s have this syndrome.

It became difficult for Banks to sit up or speak. I wanted to help. I sent him a humorous card to cheer him up, then called offering to set up an appointment with an excellent neurologist I knew while completing my residency training in Philadelphia.

"No thanks, John," he said. I'm going to a hospital nearby for evaluation." This teaching hospital lost his records. He went to a second hospital, where doctors told him- "your illness isn't life-threatening and you will get weaker with time."

Banks decided to go to a Rehabilitation Center. While there, he felt his quality of life starting to improve. He was evaluated by specialists in Speech Therapy, Physical Medicine, Occupational Therapy and Orthotics. He was given splints, a brace and better crutches. For the first time, he was given very detailed, explicit, instructions on changes that needed to be made to his home, his daily activities and a daily therapy program. He even had an exit conference with the entire staff. This thoroughness was in sharp contrast to the experiences he had at the two previous hospitals. He is much more comfortable now and is accomplishing more. Banks sees definite improvement in his condition for the first time in years.