Aug 26, 2019
Doin’ Pushups against Parkinson’s on Beale! Thanks girls, for impromptu support. #thehealingproject https://www.instagram.com/p/B1oweb7BI7q/?igshid=lp0r27dea7y0
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Doin’ Pushups against Parkinson’s on Beale! Thanks girls, for impromptu support. #thehealingproject https://www.instagram.com/p/B1oweb7BI7q/?igshid=lp0r27dea7y0
April is Parkinson’s awareness month - Day 9 Wrap-up!
SO, What is this thing called Parkinson’s? Why do we shudder at diseases named after people? Do you wonder what’s going on with some our favorite celebs like Michael J. Fox, Mohammad Ali, Linda Ronstadt, or ‘that’ nerdy Facebook guy with a project? Don’t ‘we’ understand that people have problems of their own?
Of course we do, and we Parkinson’s warriors respect that, and have often borrowed courage from their playbook. It is simply to shine enough light on growing problem so that someone out there with ‘a problem of their own’ might actually recognize themselves, or a loved one. A little awareness changes and saves lives every single day. A little awareness has often humbled this Parkinsonian life.
So, WHAT IS Parkinson’s? What can possibly go wrong with a 3 pound mass between your ears that uses 20% of your body’s energy? A jiggly chunk of gray and white matter that contains as many neural connections as stars in the Milky Way Galaxy? (Yes - for EACH one of us). I mean, isn’t it perfect? In fact, IT just reminded me that if I don’t give IT some rest NOW, IT will hate ITSELF in the morning. Truly amazing.. #TheHealingProject
April is Parkinson’s awareness month - Day 8 wrap-up!
OK, so it’s April 9, and I’m running a day late on my posts. One thing about PD warriors is we tend to run late. This is because we ignore the fact that we are a bit slower on the move, even if quicker in the mind. With me, it’s always been the case, so I’m not going to hide behind PD on that one!
Speaking of which, us PwP’s (people with Parkinson’s) HATE to hide ‘behind’ PD for anything. For example, I had to be dragged to the local precinct for a handicap parking permit, even though these days I can be seen walking (and running) mile after mile. That’s because at this time last year, I could not trust myself to make it to my car without falling backwards. I sometimes needed a heave and a ho (not that kind of ‘ho’) just to get in. So what is so different?
THAT, my friends, is The Healing Project at work. A nearly constant effort to understand how my brain works WITH my body. Then, despite what ‘they’ say about PD progression, it is very possible to improve PD symptoms so much that people go ‘hmmmmm’. How does that happen? The mad alchemist in me goes MWAHAHAHA! More coming on this..!
In the meantime, Godspeed on overcoming YOUR challenge. Everybody is healing from something.. #TheHealingProject
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month - Day 6 wrapup!
Today, with the kids off from school, and my 11 year old daughter home with me, I figured let’s get out of the house for some quality time before the friends start calling - OR - I get caught up in a Netflix documentary. We went to the mall since she had some gift cards from her birthday. Perfect.
We spent half an hour in a Justice store picking out some summer shorts and a top. I got some odd looks from staff since young girls usually go there with their mothers, and lets face it, I look odd. At checkout we present a sale coupon that, it turns out, had expired yesterday. “Sorry, the sale ended yesterday.” I politely request; “But, can you please honor it since we also bought a top that was not on sale?” The checkout girl, and apparently the manager, says; “Sorry, it’s in the [computer] system...can’t do it”. With a simple Thank You, I left the stuff there and walked out with daughter in tow. Baaaah computer system!
We laugh about it over lunch as I give her a short lecture on business. Then, after a sip of her lemonade, I tell her about the evils of sugar and the trans fats in French fries. At Barnes and Noble, I wind up in the cookbook aisle for the first time in my life, while she peruses the volumes in the Harrry Potter collection, which she consumed in only three weeks last Summer. We get home, dinner with the family, a short movie and I tuck her in. I flippantly jump my 175 pound butt onto the foot of her bed and splintered the antique bed frame so bad, I had to relocate her in tears to sleep in the guest room. I tell her that we will look back and laugh at this one day. I am not waiting.. 😉
Sometimes the struggle against Parkinsons yields little victories that are shockingly, curmudgeonly, unceremoniously... normal. They are worth the fight. Amen and good night. #TheHealingProject
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month - Day 5 wrapup!
Many of you know that I have been ‘aware’ of Parkinson’s disease since October of 2010. Before then, I was an unsuspecting healthy guy who rode the Earth like a grand ferris wheel, sharing my gifts, taking my lumps, and bouncing babies on my knee. The future is never guaranteed - but it seemed to be. I thought I ate the right stuff, breathed the right air, drank the right water; lived in the right place at right time with the right love. I could almost expect to see grandkids at the very least. (OK, I’m pushing it.. 😉)
Suddenly, with the doctor’s shrug, those expectations were no longer to be expected. All I was told to expect was to expect a succession of symptoms like dementia and a host of other nasty sh*t, while “living well” before succumbing to a “miserable death” only a few years ahead of my peers. Well! well! What a relief! AND what a relief it would be to those who would happily choose my ‘lot’ today over their ‘lot’ tomorrow. So, that’s how I now look at life.. relatively Einsteinian indeed! Supplication trumps expectation. The funny thing is; that’s how I thought I looked at life before.
Many PD warriors take it upon themselves to figure out or find PD therapies and healing modalities. The neurologist’s black bag is remarkably small and limited, though effective in some ways. The internet (a.k.a. Dr. Google) has allowed small groups with an idea to form and run circles around elephantine clinical trials that often take years to resolve into anything. Heck, we figure “why not?”. Afterall, we’ve got no expectations(!). Below is one such website that may be onto something.. #TheHealingProject
https://clinicrowd.info/submit-parkinsons-e1/#
For People with Parkinson's, there is something very strange about the feedback between our brains/bodies and our immediate environment. The choice of clothes, in particular, can affect symptoms. In this article, I cover why consideration to clothing is an important part of living well with
“Fascinating..” as Mr. Spock would say.
Day by Day in April; Parkinson’s Awareness Month
Today is the first day of Parkinson's Disease awareness month. I think it is shared with Autism awareness month and Alzheimer's awareness month, so please be aware of these not-so-distant cousins too. (Funny thing - suddenly I don't feel so bad in the company of those two ;-) Since part of my mission with The Healing Project is to spread Parkinson's awareness, I thought I would try using each day in April to make at least one FB post about the disease and/or my day's experience with it. Feel free to ask questions in your comments, and I will reply as time allows. Here goes nuthin! Post #1 coming right up..
Yes, this is syndicated from April, 2016. I thought it was worth running again.