Our Family Adventures

Last July, we were able to visit Palmyra, New York and attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant. This is something I have looked forward to doing. We set a goal as a family to read the Book of Mormon and then attend the pageant. The children were helpful in reminding us to read and the experience turned out to be a great one for our family. We still had some chapters left to finish, so on our drive to New York we were able to listen along to the final chapters.

Here we are in front of Joseph Smith's boyhood home.

My cute boys. It is pictures like this that make me think "Luke, I am so sorry I did not cut your hair." :)

I love the scenic view of the temple.

In Sacred Grove.

Nicole was able to get a picture with some of the cute young women from our ward who were in the pageant.

What a wonderful experience it was to be able to read the Book of Mormon as a family and then be able to watch it be told to us again through the play. I am so grateful for the many talented people who give of their time to be able to provide such an experience for us to enjoy. I am looking forward to going again this summer with my brother and his family!

In fifth grade, each student had to research someone to be for the wax museum. Spencer spent weeks trying to come up with the perfect person to represent. He finally settled in on Jonas Salk. What a fascinating individual! Spencer has long been interested in finding cures for medical problems. It started when he suffered from an exotic form of ringworm that has left him with alopecia on his own scalp and was heightened while watching his little brother, Luke, as a newborn suffer with difficult medical illnesses. I love reading the reports and stories he writes and this one was very interesting. I continue to enjoy learning from my children. I have included it below.

Spencer with his buddy Mithelish.

The Boys!

Jonas Salk: Battling for Worldwide Health
By: Spencer James

Poliomyelitis, the inflammation of the gray matter in the spinal cord of its unfortunate victims. A virus that brings paralysis, or worse fatality. An epidemic that struck every summer, attacking all, young and old, rich and poor, and everyone between. Disease that showed no mercy and hit wherever it could: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America. A plague that evaded the immune system changing the cell's DNA to reproduce its own hideous form. It seemed to be the super bug that could not be stopped. What could conquer the barbaric germ, which, would show no mercy to the mad, marauding, merciless malady?

On a wonderful day, October 28, 1914, in the "Big Apple", Jonas Salk was born to Russian Jews Dora and Daniel Salk. Throughout his childhood, Jonas was puzzled by what had happened to the crippled children throughout his city, with crutches and boy parts at unnatural angles. Then, when he looked at his healthy athletic legs, he even more deeply wondered. Dora and Daniel did their best to keep their son from getting Polio. They succeeded. Jonas never got Polio. Jonas's parent's both worked in the clothing business. Dora Salk, was an escaped Russian from the violent pogoms of the later end of the 1800s. Daniel's parents also came from Russia, but Daniel was born in New York. Both parents were of the Jewish faith. Dora and Daniel did not make very much but they had enough to cover all of the family's needs.

Salk's parents gave their son very high expectations that he strived to meet and exceed. He was a serious boy who was a good so to his parents, and a good brother to his brother Herman. At school and at home, his exceptional knowledge and self-discipline set him apart. One relative quoted: "When Jonas said something, you could put it in the bank." However, another thought he was too serious and often needed a joke or a good-natured tease.

In school, Jonas achieved amazing grades and skipped several grades. Jonas was interested in law and signed into the New York City College at age 15 to study law. Early on, he got bored with the study of law and decided to enter medical school. Jonas in medical school met his sweetheart, Donna, and they soon married. Jonas achieved exceptional grades, yet again, even in the difficulty of medical school. Jonas was most interested in the field of research. For an internship, Johnas went to Ann Arbor to work for Dr. Thomas Francis, a virologist at the University of Michigan. After this experience, he even more greatly strived to pursue a research career. For this reason, his colleagues bugged him about not wanting to be a physician who's work would give more pay and be much more exciting than research.

After graduating out of Medical School, Salk worked as a resident physician. He and Donna barely managed to get by on a tiny wage of $15 a month! He was very respected by his fellow residents not only because of his immense knowledge and competence, but also with his great friendliness and leadership skills. This got him a spot as the resident's president.

After his resident experience, Jonas remembered the offer of work that Dr. Thomas Francis give him to help. He then joined Dr. Francis on his recent project, a vaccination for types A and B of Influenza, a disease that plagued soldiers during World War 2. Jonas remembered something he heard at an earlier lecture, "The killing-vaccine method" combined with Salk's and Francis's original knowledge they developed a successful vaccine to fight Influenza. Jonas soon received a once in a lifetime opportunity, a trip to Germany to help fighting U.S.A. soldiers with the disease. The trip was an absolute success.

After returning from the success in Europe, Jonas received two offers. One, being open lab space in the Pittsburgh Municipal Hospital, the other being to help in the desperate fight against Poliomyelitis. Both offers were way too good to refuse, he accepted both. Jonas's greatest work was about to begin.

Jonas's part in the battle against Polio was not only trying to type the disease but also to track it. This was not only extremely boring, but just as repetitious. There were three different types of Polio all with their own different strains. What Jonas and his co-workers had to do was inject a healthy rhesus monkey of which they had in their lab with an antibody for one of the types of Polio. He would then inject the same monkey with an un-typed strain. If the monkey contracted Polio, it was either the other two types, or a completely unidentified Polio strain. If it did not contract Polio, it was of that same type injected into the monkey.

In 1949, Dr. John Enders made an absolute breakthrough. Some people are allergic to animal tissue and right then if a vaccine were to be made, it would have had animal tissue in it which would not help them. What Enders did was he found a way to create the virus without using animal tissue. However much Salk asked if he could do the same, the organization that he worked for would not allow Jonas to do it. Whit insane work and determination, Salke set up way to use Ender's method without funding. Now that he had the virus in a lab and using it to create a vaccine safe for human use. A.K.A the much needed for over 40 years at this time, the Polio vaccine.

At home, Jonas had 3 boys but rarely got to see them because of his overly hectic schedule. Sometimes 18 hours a day! However, every single summer, Jonas set aside vacation time to bring his growing family to a resort and beach in Ohio. Luckily, during this whole time, Donna supported him entirely which allowed their home-life to run smoothly.

Back at t eh lab in Pittsburgh, Jonas had loads of attention on the viruses growing. Unlike influenza, one strain of a type of Polio gave immunity to all other strains of the same type. So Salk had to choose the 3 most effective strains from each type of Polio and combine them in his vaccination. What he called a "wonderful accident" was that the first 3 stains he chose ended up to be the most effective. Now what he had to do was to kill and "cook" the strains using Formaldehyde.

However, many other Polio researchers disagreed with Salk's methods believing it would not be powerful enough. One of the most vocal Polio researchers against the Salk's vaccine was Albert Sabin. Other, such as even the president of one of the largest groups against Polio (NIH) poked extremely sharp comments against Salk until finally he realized Salk's brilliance.

Using a creative technique, Jonas became extremely close to creating the vaccine. So close in fact, he decided to take a test on it at the D.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children. After the test on this school and one other, he found that the vaccine was safe. But was his vaccine effective?

In the latter end of the year 1952, Jonas tested blood samples from the immunized children and found out that he had scientific proof now to back up the effectiveness of his vaccine. At a Polio convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania in early '53 Jonas announced his success. Finally after a hectic year of proving the vaccine's effectiveness, the largest field test in world-wide history would be planned in 1954. Over 60,000 children across the country dubbed "Polio Pioneers", received the shot and a few received a Placebo as its effectiveness could be proven. However, before this all happened, Jonas vaccinated his friends, family, and others.

Finally, on April 12, 1955, the results were in and the wait was over. Dr. Thomas Francis announced the news. It was completely successful. Over there fourths in knocking out Type 1 and 90% in Types 2 and 3. Later on a TV show, "See it Now", hos Edward Murrow asked Salk who owned the patent for the vaccine. Jonas replied: "There is no patent." "Could you patent the sun?" He believed everyone had an equal right to good health. The only bad side to Jonas's success was that he now had positively no anonymity and wherever Jonas was reporters dogged him.

Jonas soon decided he should create his own labs. He chose world class architect Louis Kahn to be in charge. After traveling all over looking for the perfect place for his institute to be, he decided on La Jolla, a town over-looking the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.

In Russia, Dr. Alber Sabin was creating an OPV for Polio or Oral Vaccine meaning it could be taken by swallowing or eating on a sugar cube. Another difference between Sabin's and Salk's vaccine was that Salk's vaccine was used with a killed virus while Sabin's used a live virus, meaning the person who got the vaccine might get Polio because he/she got the vaccine.

Jonas spoke loudly against Sabin's vaccine because not only could it give the vaccinated person Polio, but it could state that Salk's vaccine didn't work in the long term, even though it completely did work in the long term. Basil O'Connor, president of NIH and good friend of Jonas quoted "This is the only time I have ever seem Jonas get mad enough to fire back." The officials in the end did recommend only receiving the Sabin Vaccine if you were over 18. Today, both vaccines are used.

During this whole time, Jonas was also working on his institute in La Jolla. He believed mid-way that his original design was too cluttered so he completely restarted. In 1964, the institutes's permanent structure was fully completed.

Unfortunately, Jonas and Donna's home life and marriage had become weaker and weaker until it had become too weak to exist, a rope of sand. In 1968, Donna and Jonas were divorced. Two years later at a dinner party, Jonas met Fancois Gilot, former companion of painter Pablo Picasso and they married.

Jonas and his son Darrell soon started working together on a stronger killed-virus Polio vaccine. Salk at the same time was working to create a vaccine against HIV and AIDS until nearly the end of his fruitful life.

On June 23, at the ripe old age of 80 in La Jolla, California, Jonas Salk died of heart failure.

Jonas Salk, the amazing New Yorker. The man who conquered Poliomyelitis and Influenza. The man who dedicated his life to battling for world-wide health. The man who showed no mercy to the mad, marauding, and merciless malady.

Bibliography: Jonas Salk: Conquering Polio