Gladys Deloe, a member of the Winona Lake, Ind., Grace Brethren Church (Bruce Barlow, lead pastor), is featured this week in the paper and the online news site, InkFreeNews. The story details her journey with post-polio syndrome and how she’s reached out to others with the same condition. A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.

WINONA LAKE WOMAN WITH PPS SUPPORTS OTHERS

Gladys Deloe was 7 years old when she contracted polio. Deloe is pictured with a photo of her as a child and photos of family members, who also got polio. Deloe now has post-polio syndrome and is a facilitator for a PPS support group. (Photo by Phoebe Muthart)

Gladys Deloe was just 7 years old when she contracted polio. While she recovered from polio, Deloe later contracted post-polio syndrome a decade ago, and has since started a post-polio support group.

Born in 1935, Deloe grew up in Randolph, N.Y. She was diagnosed with polio in 1942 and her uncle and his son, her cousin, also contracted polio.

“It was an epidemic time before the vaccine,” she said. “I went through a lot of testing.”

She was sick for about three weeks and had violent headaches. But Deloe was fortunate as she did not become paralyzed like many others afflicted with polio.

After recuperating, Deloe lived a normal life. Deloe and her husband, Jesse, her caregiver, have been married 61 years, and they have two children. She earned a degree in behavioral science and counseling in 1985, when she was 50 years old.

Ten years ago, polio-like symptoms started occurring frequently. She visited the Mayo Clinic’s website and pulled up post-polio syndrome. It said there is no treatment. She later had trouble walking and eventually was diagnosed with PPS.

“I had symptoms I didn’t realize I had later in life,” she said. “Some, like me, realize symptoms may come back.” And they did.

 Click here for the complete article.