Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung

This was a humbling quick read. Great book to share when getting perspective on your own life and challenges. Inspirational and touching.

The extremes of emotion from soaring to totally helpless including no way to get help kept me glued to the book. A wonderful story of unconditional love and care transforming a tortuous situation into thriving strength. A testimony to how God knows each of us and cares for us and brings certain people into our lives to accomplish his plan for us.

Easy reading that touches your heart.

Good read about the reality of life for the profoundly disabled among us. An education on the horrors of polio and it's effects on a generation of families. Paul Alexander was an exceptional person.

LOVE this story so much. I was sad to have come to the end of reading it, I didn’t want his story to end. I highly recommend this book. Read about the man who beat polio, despite having it. His condition and how he survived is just beyond me, it’s shocking what he endured. He will inspire you to never give up, literally. You can do anything you put your mind to.

Paul’s book was just incredibly riveting and so inspiring. I experienced everything right along with him whilst reading it. The sadness, fear, hope, love and determination. It’s amazing what Paul has achieved in life. It’s amazing the mental fortitude he has. I mean I don’t think I have ever seen another human being like him! He made me feel ashamed of my excuses to not do the best I can, to have not pursued my dreams more. But at the same time, he also inspired me to go ahead and make more of myself, that it’s never too late. His faith in god, and his sheer will to live is incredible. I love you Paul, you are a beautiful pure soul. You are truly god’s gift to us. Thank you for writing this incredible book, it actually changed me in ways I can’t even describe. The fact that he wrote this book with a stick in his mouth! I mean, most people can’t even type with their fingers. So yes there are a few spelling and grammar mistakes as well as some repetition. But I actually prefer that it wasn’t edited. This is the way he wrote it, yes with a stick in his mouth! I think it’s perfect, just as perfect as he is.

A heroic struggle over polio. Still, it is very episodic, often fails to describe key moments and therapies and leaves the reader wondering. Valuable in portraying the terrible scourge of polio, the severity of the epidemic just before the vaccines and the long way we, as a society, have come in the treatment of people with disabilities.

Forty some years ago I was an attendant to Ms Jessie Sellman of Portland, Oregon. I was young (19) at the time and needed money and shelter after leaving home. I took care and was friends with this amazing woman for around ten years, only a small slice of our lives. We talked a lot and I learned so much about her but now I’m older and maybe wiser and Mr. Alexander has answered many questions that I would have liked to ask her now about what it was like to be in such a vulnerable state. There are some very strong people in this world and I’m grateful to have had the experience with Jessie and the honor to read Paul R Alexander’s book on what it is like to be confined in an Iron Lung. I hope that we can rid the world of this disease as we have some already. We must not give up trying to make this world a better place.