We got home from Rock Creek in time to sign up for my second session of swimming lessons at Downey High School. At least that was the plan. Of course, things don’t always work out as planned.

"The search for the poliovirus is triggered when any child is found with acute flaccid paralysis. From the most remote communities to the laboratory, the World Health Organization makes sure that the pieces of the surveillance system work together so that if the poliovirus is circulating anywhere in the world it will be found – and stopped."

I came down with a high fever and a stiff neck. Mom called our doctor. The next thing I knew, I was alone in an ambulance bound for a hospital at the other end of the county.