Thirteen years ago, on March 25, 2010, I posted my first blog post. I had been doing the Recipe for six months at that time. It has been an interesting journey these last thirteen years. I am grateful!
Here is the first blog 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 it would be worth you giving it 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.
All my best,
Howard”
Okay, let’s take a closer look at the last 13 years.
From where we have come.
My blog readership was astounding right out of the blocks…NOT! Other than Sally and our children, our friend Mary, my sister Allison and brother-in-law Rick, and my cousins Carolyn, Michael, and Susan, nobody was reading my blog. Blog readership: 10.
Where we are.
Over 20,000 unique visitors per month are coming to the website and blog.
These unique visitors come from over 200 countries from around the world.
I am coaching at least one person from 6 of the 7 continents. Apparently, Antarctica is the hold-out, although one man I am coaching has gone there in the last year.
Some statistics for you:
Please note, these statistics are what have been reported to me, so the numbers may be higher.
Number of full recoveries other than me: 6.
Number of people having reported seeing benefits from doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®: Over 500.
Number of people doing the full Recipe as it is every day and not seeing any benefit: 0.
Number of people who have subscribed to receive an email notification every time I do a blog post: 1,309. (This means that when you are opening the email and clicking on the blog post, 1,308 other people are doing it with you).
Today’s blog post is number 942.
You have posted 11,798 comments on the blog posts.
If you have ever felt alone when reading the blog, doing the Recipe, or being in your Parkinson’s body, please know that there are over 20,000 people from over 200 countries in 6 continents on this blog with you each and every month.
You are not alone!
Where we are going.
Closing thoughts. The ”where we are going” section is blank because none of us know what comes next. In my recovery, I learned to accept life as it rolled out in front of me, one step at a time. However, I invite all of you to post a comment about where you want to go in your recovery journey.
Although we do not control what comes next, when you have a clear picture of what you want, and you put your soul, mind, and body best efforts and energy in the direction of what you want, you substantially increase that you will receive everything you want.
At the end of my first blog post, thirteen years ago, I wrote:
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.
I am grateful to all of you for the lively and meaningful dialogue we have been having these thirteen years. And we are nowhere near completion of this conversation!
I invite you to post a comment about where you want to go in your recovery journey. Yes, I turned 62 yesterday, and you do not need to wish me a happy birthday. It was a wonderful day! I want to hear about where you want to go in your recovery journey, so if you post a comment, please focus your comment on you:
Where do you want to go in your recovery journey?
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Dear Howard,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and all the best together with dear Sally!
We are so happy that you exist and are very thankful for your unique work
you did and still do! Also, your life-story is impressing, THANK YOU!!
So the next step: Werni wants to be able to walk on his own, he is dreaming of it to reach this goal!! All the best for all in this community.
Happy birthday to you and the blog – where would we be without both (I don’t want to think about that).
I want to go to full recovery for me and my fellow warriors and have the Recipe be the accepted healing prescription for all PD sufferers which would put an end to PD YAYY!
For the immediate next step I look forward to eliminating the small amount of medicine I am taking.
Love
Margaret
Thanks Howard for giving us hope and for illuminating the healing path for us. I look forward to the inner peace and joy that comes with fully releasing myself from the PD. I look forward to fully trusting God and embracing the life he has given me.
Many blessings,
Bob
Happy birthday Howard and the blog. I’d like to applaud you for inspiring us to embrace an alternative reality of life with this condition. I still use your recipe on a daily basis. I’m planning on leading a full life regardless of where I am with my symptoms.
Love and blessings to you all
Waseema
Happy birthday to you, Howard, and best wishes to your lovely wife Sally.
First, I would like a full recovery complete with love, joy, happiness and fearlessness. Then I would like to enhance these feelings by engaging others in an upwardly bounding spiral of the joy of life!
Love to all, Chris
Dear Howard,
there is no way to express the huge contribution you’ve
made to my life, so I won’t try. I once was a dancer so I want to to be able to dance again. I want to move freely without pain. I want to learn al the lessons
PD has to teach me and then kick it to the curb. I want my voice back.
Thank you for helping these wants become a reality!
Love, Meredith
I want to be able to walk, and to do all the things that PD prevents me from doing at the moment, like going down stairs with no fear about falling, having a bath with no fear about being able to get out of the bath, getting into bed without it taking ages
to get into a slightly comfortable position, and then being able to sleep for at least 7 hours.
I would like to be without the bladder and bowel problems that I have got at the moment, and I would like to have the energy to keep my flat tidy and clean.
Most of all I am looking forward to being able to get out into the wonderful world again…
Wow, Heather, you really nailed the Parkinson’s experience right on the head!
I have managed to have some luck with fiber, roughage and lots of water for the bowel problems.
Good luck and best regards,
Chris
In spite of your wishes, you deserve birthday wishes and congratulations on your blog posts. You have a meaningful life that is helping many of us.
This year I want to go from Parkinson’s as a roadblock to full healing. This full healing includes continuous gratitude in the same way as when I was a younger man. This seems to be the final part of the Recipe for me to get into place.
Each day is a gift, and has the potential to be the best day yet. With Howard’s help, and the encouragement of this community, I know that I will get to where I plan to go!
I look forward to a full recovery and being able to move freely in the world again. To take walks, go hiking, ride my bike and dance! That is how I am envisioning my future, moving freely and medication free. Love and healing to all.
Karen
Thanks Howard and best wishes for 62. You’re a legend 😇. I’m aiming for a full recovery! May this be the year for many of us 😀😀😀
I look forward to being free of dyskinesia and enjoying freedom of movement without meds. In him we live and move and have our being. I worship Jesus, who said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Father.” I’m so glad you are keeping well, Howard, and humbly continue to think of the needs of others these 13 years. Thank you. Blessings to you and your family.
Happy birthday dear Howard.
May you and Sally be blessed with good health happiness and joy always.
All I want is to be able to dance the night away at my daughter’s wedding.
I also want everyone with pd to have a wonderful recovery.
Most of all I want to be the real me.
Love to all,
Maree
Maree I have to tell you my son got married a few years ago and I was so excited, anxious and nervous (it was before I found Howard) The day could not have gone any smoother, everyone including Me had such a wonderful time. We danced as soon as the music started until the end!!! I think being around family on such a happy occasion, the music and dancing resulted in a giant dopamine shower that lasted all night. The highlight of the night was dancing with my son for mother son dance and later dancing with the whole family including my 85 year old mother who had broken her femur a few years prior!!
We went to another wedding this past March for my husbands nephew and had to travel to another state, same thing happened the happiness of the occasion, seeing people we hadn’t seen in a while and the music and dancing took over.
I wish you all the joy in the world as you prepare for this beautiful occasion.
Love
Margaret
Dear Margaret,
Thanks for your lovely and uplifting message. I am very touched that you took the time and trouble to cheer a stranger up.
With love,
Maree
Dear Howard, congratulations and best wishes for your 62 birthday. I wish you all the best for your life and the magnificent work you do to help us. I am looking forward to be able again to move freely, to do all the little things of everyday life without needing help, to be outside, take walks and breathe the fresh air, as long as I want. Most of all I am looking forward to be the peaceful, joyful, compassionate and loving being I really am, feeling good from the inside and not depending unnecessarily on the life situations I am faced with.
Dear Howard,
How grateful I am for you, your recipe and your Blog and all the Warriors.
I want a full recovery no matter how long it takes. I am seeing improvements. I want to try to extend my time between medication and that is enough to keep me going. I want to be able to have my handwriting back, be free of weakness in the legs, slowness. feeling shaky inside and bad reflexes for now.
I wish a full recovery for all the PD warriors.
Love, Colette
I look forward to walking naturally, with ease, and being pain-free. I look forward to a stronger, more coordinated hand without tremors. I just started my 4th week of doing the Recipe. I’m not doing it 100% yet, but I expect to get there in the next couple of months.
Best to all of you,
Nina
Happy birthday Howard! And happy birthday to the blog too! Thank you for your dedication to helping those of us with this most challenging neurological imbalance. It is a blessing to have you reveal an alternate way to heal and recover and I’m deeply grateful.
My intention is to have a FULL recovery this year – 2023. To be able to walk, hike and dance again , releasing the fear and pain of PD symptoms, and to feel the full joy of life and the bliss’s of having a body that is at optimum health and vitality! YES!!!
Thank you Howard for the blogs in helping us recover from PD. I look forward to be able to walk without hesitation, play with my grandchildren, live a normal life and enjoy life with my supporting wife and children. Doing the Recovery Recipe daily with meditation has helped me improve my symptoms. Wishing all the PD warriors out there with full recovery and blessings to you and your family.
I look forward to accepting the “real me” before I began listening to what the world likes to tell us: that we’re not deserving of good health, a peaceful mind and a joyous spirit. Howard has succinctly outlined for us the truths we need to embrace to reach such a goal. How blessed we are for that and also for the assurance that if we slip, we only have to get back on the path again. Along with that acceptance, I look forward to releasing anxiety and being tremor free. As each of us reach our goals, one by one, our world will gradually change and grow until the awareness kicks in that we’re all deserving of Recovery. That’s something to be grateful for! 🙏💕
This year will be the year of my recovery! I’m done with doubting myself. In this world, if all things are possible, nothing is impossible. Let’s move forward and have a recovery! No more tremors, only calm.
Hi, I want to be symptom free, no more Parkinson’s, and that I am not taking any medication for Parkinson’s. My body is healthy. My heart is open and I feel great joy and gratitude and wish to help others. Thank you Howard and a great birthday week oF joy and happiness and love to you.