Wow, great stuff, Bobby! I enjoyed reading "The Epistle."
Kat
On Fri, 3 May 2002 12:05:01 EDT "BG Greer, PhD" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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Deri,
This is an update on the "Epistle" updated.
Bobby
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<P><BR>
<BR>
MY EARLY YEARS<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Cerebral palsy(CP) is a generic term which encompasses many types of condit=
ions. The term scares the hell out of some people, but, in fact, is a group=20=
of disorders which affects the brain’s ability to control the motor fun=
ctions of the body. Since about ninety percent of cases of cerebral palsy oc=
curs as a result of damage to the brain before birth; functions other than m=
otor functions can be affected. These other affected functions might, but al=
ways, include mental retardation, visual problems, hearing problems, epileps=
y and learning disabilities. These latter conditions are termed “associ=
ated disorders”. I was born with cerebral palsy. When a new born is sus=
pected of having cerebral palsy, physicians will often paint a “worse c=
ase scenario” for the traumatized parents by telling them their newborn=
“bundle of joy” most likely will not be able to walk, to talk, wi=
ll be retarded, blind or deaf or both. This way the physician’s ass is=20=
covered. And that is what happened to my parents when I was born. It has als=
o happened to just about every individual with cerebral palsy I have talked=20=
to about this subject. These same physicians later wonder why such parents a=
re hostile to persons in the medical professions. In defense of such profess=
ionals, often the case scenario they painted does not pan out and said paren=
ts are grateful to have child who can talk, walk, is not retarded, etc. This=
“cover your ass” method then pays off in a twisted sort of way.<B=
R>
The physician who delivered me was a family physician in rural north centra=
l Texas who had been my mother’s physician all her life and had deliver=
ed my older brother, Dan, with no complications. This is to say he was not a=
total screw up. In fact,<BR>
he took my dilemma quite personally. He even went to a medical conference in=
Chicago to find out more about cerebral palsy in order to more competently=20=
traumatize my parents with the nature of CP and its associated disorders.<BR=
>
Speaking of my parents, they met while going to high school in Milford, Tex=
as.<BR>
My dad was captain of the football team and my mom was the daughter of a dea=
con in the local church. My dad’s was named R.L. and my mom’s was=20=
Geneva Alice Goodman. One thing I learned after I went to school was never=20=
give an off spring an initial name! The teachers would ask, “What is yo=
ur father’s name?” and I would say “R.L.” and they would=
asked, “Yes, but what’s his full name?” and I would response=
, “R.L.”. They would then give me a look like I had one of those &=
#147;associated disorders” I mentioned earlier, namely, mental retardat=
ion.<BR>
My parents married right out high school in 1928 in the beginning of the Gr=
eat Depression. They lived on a farm outside Hillboro, right north of Waco.=20=
Dad share cropped, tinkered with a few old farm tractors which would not run=
and also worked at a cotton gin. In 1934, my brother Dan was born. He was a=
hyperactive little bundle of energy who would “escape” and get lo=
st among the cotton plants or climb to tops of windmills at 2 years of age.=20=
In l937, I was born. Since my mom had had a kidney infection just prior to m=
y birth and since her physician, whose name was Killian, expected her to hav=
e a difficult birth, Dad drove Mom to Waxahachie which had a larger hospital=
and better facilities. Killian used high forceps in delivering me and blame=
d himself for my cyanotic(blue) complexion and both of my broken arms. He su=
spect I had CP and that’s when he “covered his ass” by giving=
my parents the worst case scenario speech. I had great difficulty breathing=
on my own and a nurse who was said to have the “hots” for one of=20=
Dad’s brothers, gave me contrasting hot and cold baths for about 18 hou=
rs straight. She must have had it bad for Uncle Harry, but I will be forever=
grateful to her, no matter=12what her motivation.<BR>
Let me say here, that as attorney say, everything I state about my early ye=
ars is “hear say evidence”. I have very few memories of my early l=
ife. Most of what I am writing here came from my Mom. I am just now realizin=
g how distorted that view point may be. I do have a few memories of selected=
things when I was two or three. When I was two or three my family moved to=20=
San Antonio. Dad got a job working on farm tractors and we lived in a small=20=
apartment across the street from where he worked. I have about three memorie=
s of this period. One was when my brother Dan’s pajamas<BR>
caught fire and my Dad had to put out the flames with his hands. All I remem=
ber was Dan running and crying and Dad chasing after him. In my mind I thoug=
ht my Dad was hurting him, when in fact, he caught Dan and put the flames ou=
t with his hands. After that, Mom had to stay in the hospital with my brothe=
r and I went to work with Dad, since we did not have the money for a baby si=
tter or day care for me. The tractor dealership where my father worked was a=
small family business and the wife of the owner and her daughter in law kep=
t books and ran the office there. These women were my surrogate mothers whi=
le Dan was in the hospital. These surrogate mothers must have done a great j=
ob caring for me, since I’ve always associated the smell of a tractor s=
hop with warmth and safety. <BR>
The other memory I have of that time was my brother rolling an old tire dow=
n a sidewalk and I got in front of it. The tire hit me in the back and havin=
g no balance to speak of I fell and landed on my forehead. CP’s don =
46;t know how to fall since they can not reach out and break the fall with t=
heir arms and hands. In this department, I was a very slow learner. I rememb=
er getting up and blood running down my face. My parents took me to the emer=
gency room and I got stitches(sutures) in my forehead. They say that afterno=
on after I had sutures I fell again and was returned to the emergency room f=
or another stitching job. Throughout early childhood, I kept falling and lan=
ding on the same spot on my forehead. Later, a neurologist recommended that=20=
my parents buy me something like a football helmet, so I could wear it to pr=
event further damage to what my father called my “forward landing gear&=
#148;! When I was adult with children, my dad told my children the helmet st=
ory much to my chagrin. My kids thought it was hysterically funny. They pict=
ured their father wobbling down the street with a football helmet. Later my=20=
daughter got a Tabby cat, named it Bobby, and fashioned a small helmet for B=
obby. <BR>
Around this time my mother discovered a charity clinic for persons with ser=
ious<BR>
physical problems. While taking me there, she found a neurologist, actually=20=
a neurosurgeon named Lewis Helfer. Helfer was fresh out of residency in neur=
osurgery in Illinois and was delighted to find a young CP who he could use t=
o train interns and other medical personnel regarding what CP looks like in=20=
a young child. My Mom says he would have me walk back and forth in front of=20=
such personnel as he pointed out the characteristic of CP. He also told my M=
om I had the spastic type of cerebral palsy; and that from taking history of=
her pregnancy and delivery, told her that Killian probably did not injury m=
e at birth. Rather, he concluded that my CP was the result of Mom’s kid=
ney infection just prior to my birth.<BR>
Spastic is the most common type of cerebral palsy. The other two “pure=
” types are athetoid and ataxic. Anatomically, they are different due t=
o the area of insult(damage) is located in different parts of the motor area=
s of the brain. They pretty much look alike to lay people, but they have dif=
ferent relaxes and motor characteristics to a medical professional train in=20=
neurology. Other than neurologists, some orthopedic specialists and physiatr=
ists(trained in physical medicine); most physicians know less about CP than=20=
the average lay person. This I have discovered as I explain CP 101 to some i=
nternist, cardiologist, etc. What gripes me is after my explaining CP 101, I=
still have the pay<I> them</I>. They should be paying me!<BR>
Basically, spasticity results in a screw up in the brain’s ability to=20=
get the right signals to the right muscles. Just about every voluntary muscl=
e group has another muscle which performs the opposite function. For example=
, in the upper arm, the biceps contract to bring the lower arm up. However,=20=
in order for the biceps to do this in a smooth, orderly fashion; the opposin=
g muscle group, the triceps, must relax. Technically, this procedure is call=
ed reciprocal innervation. In spastic CP this mechanism doesn’t quite=
work the way it is supposed to work. Innervation to contract go to both opp=
osing muscle groups and the result is a jerky looking movement. The above is=
, of course, an over simplification and someone trained in neurophysiology w=
ho take issue with it. <BR>
Helfer became my personal physician soon after this. He never did any tradi=
tional medical procedures on me, lake surgery and/or fitting me with braces.=
Rather, he advised my mother on everyday things she might do to aid and ass=
ist my development. For example, I had trouble coordinating my diaphragm in=20=
relation to my speech. Helfer recommended singing lessons. Also, at the time=
he was a big enthusiast of promoting good neurological development through=20=
increased Vitamin B complex. One prime source was malt they used to brew bee=
r with, so my good Baptist mother would make periodic pilgrimages to the Pea=
rl Brewery for yeast malt to get me my Vitamin B complex fix. I don’t k=
now if I ever really benefited from this regimen, but much later in my life,=
I would cynically blame this good neurologist for my predilection to beer.=20=
<BR>
<BR>
My dad got a better job and we moved to another place near downtown San Ant=
onio. We lived in a private apartment for a while and then moved to a newly=20=
opened public housing project called Victoria Courts. This was in the early=20=
‘40’s. This housing project was part of FDR’s New Deal and wa=
s a nice place to live for a while. As with most housing projects in cities,=
this one deteriorated into a barrio and a center for the crack trade in the=
‘80’s and ‘90’s and was torn down. I have many recollec=
tions of this time. The apartments were in buildings containing about eight=20=
family dwellings, four on each end of the building. On each end, there were=20=
two downstairs apartments and two up stairs. The building were rather stark=
in structure, consisting of concrete tiles, cement staircases and steel rai=
lings and casement windows. I remember scooting down these stairs on my butt=
, due to my poor balance. I had not recalled this part of my past until I sa=
w the movie, “My Left Foot” where Christie Brown scooted down the=20=
stairs in his family’s flat in Dublin.<BR>
<BR>
I learned several things during this time we lived in Victoria courts. Firs=
t, I learned it is sometime very painful to be a “hero”> I lear=
ned this by going to a playground football game with my brother. I pestered=20=
the older boys to let me play and they relented. I was on defense and when t=
he ball was snapped, I squatted and saw a bunch of legs. One pair came churn=
ing at me and I reached and grabbed them. The body attached to the legs came=
toppling down on me as did several other tacklers. I felt crushed and could=
not catch my breath. Everybody congratulated and begged me to play as I hob=
bled off the field. It is painful to be a hero. <BR>
<BR>
I also began to admire and acquire my Dad’s cynical sense of humor. A=
s I said the buildings we lived in contained eight family. This was at the p=
eak of WW II and soldiers were all over San Antonio. Most civilian men, like=
my Dad, worked during the day. Some of the women at the other end of our bu=
ilding :entertained the troops during the day. I didn’t get the full me=
aning of it. but when Dad would ask my Mom how things went at the “USO&=
#148; that day, Mom would get upset and Dad would laugh and I learned cynici=
sm, could be fun. It was good to be twisted. My Mom was from a family of dea=
cons and my Dad came from the “wilder” side. He had buddies from M=
ilford living in San Antonio and they taught it was fun to get drunk, becaus=
e Mom would get upset and I was learning quickly that most things that upset=
my Mom were funny to me. There was one particular incident where Dad’s=
buddies came by our=12apartment drunk. They had been, for some ungodly reas=
on, to a Reptile Farm. One of Dad’s friend thought it would be fun to s=
teal a poisonous snake so he puts in his pocket and come over to see his =
47;ol’ buddy R.L.”! I never figured out why the snake never bit hi=
m, but all hell broke loose when he bragged about what he had done. R.L. was=
terrified of snakes! I learned people do wield, funny things when drunk. <B=
R>
<BR>
Unfortunately I learned of violence, too. San Antonio tended to break out d=
runk on the weekends with all the military men in town. Our place was not th=
at far from downtown and so the “fun” would often spill over into=20=
out neighborhood. On particular morning I remember hearing yelling, cursing=20=
and a “crack. crack” sound. One soldier was beating another’s=
head against the curb out side our bed room window. I also remember a rabid=
dog in the neighborhood , one day and a policeman standing over it shooting=
several times.I found the would could be scary.</P>
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