Marcia Edgley Packer, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, on February 6, 2010

Transcript (56 pages) of interview by Becky B. Lloyd with Marcia Edgley Packer on February 6, 2010

Packer (b. 1946) was born in Preston, Idaho. She tells about her early family life. She contracted polio at age six, in September 1952. She describes what she remembers about getting sick. At home she received heat treatment, which she describes. She was taken to a doctor for a spinal tap and sent to St. Anthony's Hospital in Pocatello when polio was suspected. She remembers experiencing pain and fever for some time, which she describes. While in the hospital, she was given penicillin. She was in an iron lung for a period of time, of which experience she has no direct recollection. After ten days she was sent to the Elk's Convalescent Home (rehabilitative hospital) in Boise and was treated there from September 1952 to April 1953. At the time of her admission, her legs were completely immobile. She received a variety of therapies there, including stretching, resistance exercises and soaking in a Hubbard tank. She began to regain mobility by first learning to crawl. She was fitted with braces and crutches in October and received training in uses of those, including how to fall and get back up again. She describes her hospital recollections, activities and experiences. After discharge from Elk's, she continued with exercises at home. She started a series of corrective surgeries at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake beginning at age ten, and continuing each summer until age sixteen. She discusses those surgeries and her recollections of Primary Children's. Ms. Packer discusses post-polio syndrome, it effects and manifestations. She completed a degree in social work, married, and gave birth to three children. She has served in numerous political and community volunteer positions throughout her adult life. This interview is part of the Polio Oral History Project. Interviewer: Becky Lloyd