Along with many other people, I sometimes forget how grateful I am for my life. Yes, I have Parkinson’s disease and yes, I have other medical issues that place limitations on how I live, but it can always be worse. I think about what situations I could be put in that would create my own personal hell.
My brother and his wife and kids like to vacation in Rocky Point, Mexico, and make multiple trips throughout the year. On his most recent adventure, he got pulled over for speeding and it wasn’t in his birthplace the great country of United States, it was near the border crossing in Mexico.
Now I’ve heard about all the police in Mexico when presented with an opportunity, they might take advantage of the situation. My brother not speaking Spanish very well, did his best to understand the reason he had been pulled over. He was speeding and was told to follow them to the police station to get ticketed for his infraction. Stumbling over his words, my brother tried to talk his way out of it, but not knowing Spanish… well you can just guess how that went.
The police officer gave him an alternative to going to the station… he could pay him $100.00 in cash and he would let them go. Decisions, decisions… This got me thinking about what if they did go to the station and that the 50 kilos of Cocaine, they hid in their car was picked up by one of those intimidating German Shepard drug-sniffing dogs… they would be arrested and detained in a foreign country.
Now, that I have imagined my brother and his wife as drug mules, which was wrong of me, but it’s all to make my point. As a Psychotherapist, I have the great ability to put myself into other people’s shoes. What if you were arrested today and placed in jail? Overlooking the fact that the whole experience would suck in general, imagine you have Parkinson’s in jail.
You would have no control over when or how much medication you would receive. Doses of medications would be random. You probably wouldn’t have access to a Neurologist, let alone a Movement Disorder Specialist. There would be no control over the type of food you could eat and don’t even think about exercising. Sleep would be irregular, which would lead to high levels of stress.
Oh, and forget about the new name-brand drugs that have recently come to market or getting clearance for DBS surgery. What happens if you already had DBS, but you need a battery change? You would just be left to waste away. Giving you the heebie-jeebies yet?
Now, I know what you’re thinking… just don’t go speeding around in Mexico with 50 kilos of Cocaine in your car… duh?! But there are certain circumstances that I am sure people find themselves in when they make poor life decisions and find themselves on the wrong side of the law. There must be people in prison that have Parkinson’s. How do they cope?
I know that this was a random blog topic, but I try to think of circumstances where having Parkinson’s would be much worse… like living in a remote part of the country with very little resources. It reminds me to be grateful for my life and the people in it. Feel free to share your thoughts or other conditions where your Parkinson’s would be more challenging.
I know that this was a random blog topic, but I try to think of circumstances where having Parkinson’s would be much worse… like living in a remote part of the country with very little resources. It reminds me to be grateful for my life and the people in it. Feel free to share your thoughts or other conditions where your Parkinson’s would be more challenging.
Image via forbes.com
Perhaps this may be coloring outside the lines, maybe even drawing off the entire page, but have you heard of the frame of mind referred to as “The Secret ” and the law of attraction? Simply put, we attract what we want, or don’t want during our life times, by our attitude towards each and every situation that presents it’s self in our lives. Lets say for example, you buy into, “heart and soul”, the diagnosis of Parkinson’s. You attend seminars, support groups, and individual counseling. You read every and all medical findings, go to boxing / stretching exercises and of course, worry every day it will get worse.
I have the disease, and all anyone can say is, Parkinson’s SUCKS. I watched a special documentary on “Netflix entitled “The Secret,” watched it every day for a month and it TOTALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. Instead of concentrating on the symptoms associated with Parkinsion’s, ie, the fear of falling, tremors, rigidity, sleep difficulties, and basically living a life as a “Lab Rat,” { which by the law of attraction, you’ve manifested more of it } I’ve learned to invision health, and normaltiy in my life, it’s not wishful thinking, it’s science.
I’m not suggesting throwing way the pills, and blindly crossing into oncoming traffic so to speak. What I am proposing, is the idea of what you might accomplish by using the other 93% of your brain, you haven’t considered, Parkinson’s is a neuralogical attack. I can say I thought it all BullShit, till I applied “The Secret” to my own existance.
I’ve gone from 14 “Rytary,” a day and restricted to a wheel chair, to 4, and independantly walking 3 miles, my balance has returned, and my outlook bright. All I did was detour the thought of having secomb to Parkinson’s, to thinking only of restoration… what do you have to lose?
William,
I try to live my life in the way that you describe, but sometimes it’s hard to remember that every day. Thank you for the reminder. I haven’t heard of the Netflix documentary. I will check it out! Thanks for sharing!
What was the secret that Will Learned from the Netflix ? Reduced 14 pills to 4 sounds so awesome, walk alone for 3 miles alone is great. Please share the secrets .. thank you very much
I am sorry to report that we use 100% of our brain, not just 7%. We just don’t use it all at once. This is the kind of science that goes into book like the “Secret.” People who don’t have science backgrounds can easily be conned be these programs.
Here’s a true story about how our judicial system – alas https://www.pfaw.org/blog-posts/trump-judge-affirms-dismissal-of-mans-case-against-prison-that-delayed-delivery-of-parkinsons-disease-medication-confirmed-judges-confirmed-fears/
Roger,
That was very interesting. Thank you for sharing. I always have wondered if/how they get their medications.
All life is, is the pursuit of happiness and how close you can get to it without reaching it. I mean, who wants to be happy all the time? It sounds like heaven. I personally don’t want to spend all of eternity with my dead relatives. Most people can barely spend a Thanksgiving with most of their relatives. Happiness sounds awful. The pursuit is life, attaining it is death.
Like Parkinson’s, it’s different for each person. Some people feel like Parkinson’s is a prison they can’t escape. Some people commit a crime to go to prison, because they have better access to treatment than in their normal life. Freedom isn’t free to some. Most see the world as a glass half empty or full. I see it through an alternative lens. Who cares if the glass is half empty or full as long as it has a vodka cranberry in it!
Heaven or hell, black and white. I find living in the gray is what works for me. Everyone tries so hard to fit within these parameters of how life should be. It’s all they care about and it’s exhausting to watch. I think my memoir would be called How to Lose Friends, Alienate People & Not Give a Damn!
If I ever find myself pulled over with a kilo of coke up my ass and end up in a Mexican prison with Parkinson’s… oh well. I’ll have a bunch of friends to look out for me, every meal will be Mexican food, and I won’t have to shove cocaine up my ass anymore in what was an interesting career change once upon a time.
Be well Smitty.
John,
I will be waiting for your memoir to come out, while I’m eating Mexican food. See you in the gray side!
Always carry pesos and offer them 25% it has worked for me when I ran a red light And rolled through a stop sign it’s a way of life in Mexico like I can’t live on cops pay
Ps I love traveling in Mexico
Hi:
Situations definitely could be worse. My wife is an 18 yr. Parkee survivor. What happens when I am not available to keep an eye on how she is doing ?
Who would sort out her meds that she takes every 1 1/2 hr. from 7 am thru 11 pm ? Who would help her with the Duadopa treatment she has been recently approved for ? Who would cheer her up when she felt down ? Who would be there to know that when she is shaky, she needs more meds and when she has dyskinesia she has had too many meds ?
She was recently admitted to our local hospital for a non Parkinsons reason. First of all, most staff know very little about Parkinsons. Their mandate is to provide meds within 1 hour on each side of when meds are due. This does not work for Parkees.
Parkees need meds when they are due. Reluctantly, they put a cot in her room and allowed me to stay with her to see she got her meds on time. She was there for over a month.
BUT we are surviving.
We don’t have to go to Mexico to be reminded that, at this point in time, we are very lucky !
Hang in there, it could be a lot worse !
You could be in a remote community, Canary Islands comes to mind or Patagonia Pampa. Treatment-wise, that would be like being transported back to the early 20th century.
What if (I love playing “what if”) you were on vacation, overseas, and then a worldwide pandemic started! Airlines shutdown. The country you are in won’t allow ANY travel. Your home country, USA, stops allowing anyone to enter the country, that is traveling from the country you are in. And you have PD! What do you do? How do you get your medication?
Things can be so much worse. Even in our isolation from our current situation things could be so much worse
Thanks for your blog. It provides me with some laughs and something to look forward to, the next post.
Bill,
That’s a crazy situation. When traveling gets shut down, what then?
I once saw a homeless man freeze in the middle of the street. I could tell he had Parkinson’s from the tremor in his arm. A lady who must have known something about PD walked into the street while cars where waiting for them to leave the intersection as by now the walk light had changed. She gently took his arm and then put her foot against his heel and gave him a little push. Sure enough it was enough to get him started again. I remember thinking how fortunate I was that day as I have access to everything I need to control PD as well as I can. I can’t imagine how hard that would be living on the streets. Even to wake up in the morning and get yourself moving if you had no bed to sleep on.
Colleen,
Wow, homeless. Great example. What if you have a bad day, no bed to rest in.
It would have been funny if the guy didn’t have Parkinson’s. I can see her telling him he has a tremor and him telling her he’s just freezing. It’s like asking a woman when she’s due and she’s not pregnant. 😂
This isn’t quite so random, has any time you’re not in control of your medications and your symptoms is scary.It’s probably about control of your environment. Hospital stays and travel In general. I always Worry about having access to medication and a place to rest When travelilngl. When I have been in the hospital, I want to make people aware of symptoms that come on when I’m in the middle of an MRI or CAT-Scan!
Garrett,
It true, that loss of control is frightening!