Fighting Parkinson’s, and the blog is four years old

Four years ago today, I began this blog. Much has happened over these last four years, and I thought it would be helpful to go back to the beginning as a point of reference for today’s post. Here is my first post, March 25, 2010.

“Hi.

I turned 49 years old two days ago. In November of 2009, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. My mother had Parkinson’s for 24 years before she died, and a couple of months before receiving my official diagnosis, I was pretty much certain I had it.

My mother was not diagnosed with Parkinson’s right away, and she had been put on drug treatments prior to her Parkinson’s diagnosis. She responded well to the initial Parkinson’s medications, and hence received her diagnosis. She fought a long and valiant fight, but in the end, it seemed like the drugs took their toll and played as much a part in her passing as did the disease itself.

I am fortunate to have learned from her experiences and her courage, and I am fortunate that her Parkinson’s specialist is located in my city — he is my Parkinson’s specialist now.

I am doing my best to fight this drug free. Admittedly, my movements are slow, my balance is not good, I have regular nagging pain, and I tire much more easily than before. However, I have decided to listen to these messages my body is sending me and work toward a long-term solution from a holistic perspective. I am interested in sharing my experiences to help others and I am interested in hearing others’ experiences to help me and anybody else who reads this blog.

All I can do is share what I am doing…what works and what does not. Everybody who suffers from Parkinson’s suffers in a different way. Obviously, if something I am doing looks like giving a try, let your doctor know what you are thinking about doing. I am not a doctor, and I am not advocating you do anything that you and your doctor have not discussed. My doctor is fantastic and has given me the green light to explore the approaches I will be describing in later posts.

I would not be able to fight this fight if it were not for the love of my wonderful wife and children, as well as my extended family and friends. I have many blessings in this life, and I feel that Parkinson’s is just a roadblock…not an immoveable object.

I look forward to a meaningful dialogue.”

For today’s discussion, I would like to focus on one thing I wrote four years ago:

“I am doing my best to fight this drug free. Admittedly, my movements are slow, my balance is not good, I have regular nagging pain, and I tire much more easily than before. However, I have decided to listen to these messages my body is sending me and work toward a long-term solution from a holistic perspective. ”

The reason I bring you to these words is simple. At the time I wrote this post, I had been doing the Recipe for six months. I did it every day. I gave it my heart and soul. I did not lose faith…and after six months, where was I in my recovery from a symptom perspective? I wrote, “Admittedly, my movements are slow, my balance is not good, I have regular nagging pain, and I tire much more easily than before.” Of course, when I wrote this, I had no idea I would be fully recovered three months into the future.

From most people’s perspective, many of whom had no hesitation about sharing their perspective with Sally or me, I was failing…not just failing, but failing miserably. That is where faith comes in. And action. And attitude. And progress. And faith. My faith needed to be stronger than other people’s opinions. That is really it in a nutshell.

Your faith in your cure needs to be stronger than other people’s opinions about what you should be doing for your Parkinson’s. And, your faith needs to be stronger than your fear.

You can do this! Utilize the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery^&#0174 and our formula for your cure: Faith, Attitude, Action, Progress.

Faith. To assist with faith, please click here.
Attitude. To assist with keeping a positive attitude, please click here.
Action. To assist with taking action, please click here.
Progress. To assist with your own progress by reading how your fellow travelers on this path are doing, please click here.
CURE! Your cure is the only logical conclusion. KNOW IT!

We have come a long way together these last four years. I am grateful for all of you!

You can do this! You are worth it!!!

All my best,

Howard