I am currently in the 11th year since my diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Frankly, things are going okay. In fact, better than okay, things are going well.
When I take stock of my life, as I do annually to craft the message for this event, I think about how grateful I am for the family and friends who support me so completely and effectively. I think about how fortunate I am that I respond well to medication, and the interplay that regular intensive exercise has in making this so. But I also think about the Sword of Damocles that was affixed above my head the moment I learned of my diagnosis, compelling me to worry that the good times can’t last and that this won't end well.
For things to keep going well, I need to keep my worries in check. How? Momentum.
I have faith that a cure or comprehensive treatment therapy will materialize within my lifetime. Much of my optimism stems from the growth in attention and interest in PD. As PD awareness campaigns have proliferated and the impulse to hide from social stigmatization has waned, there are now more voices ringing in unison about the need to find better solutions - treatments, therapies, prevention, a cure. The needle is starting to move: gene anomalies are being identified, biomarkers revealed, data correlated and shared, and momentum is building. I have seen how momentum can lead to breakthroughs, and for PD, maybe new effective therapies, treatments and disease modification. But it takes funding to keep this train rolling; to let one step follow another; to let discoveries and developments build on each other; to let baby steps become giant leaps. Now is the time for progress - RIGHT NOW.
I now consider myself to be in the momentum business. I help to advocate, draw people together and solicit donations necessary to keep research flowing. I was part of three PD awareness campaigns this Summer -the Spinning Wheels Relay in Canada (I rode on a team through part of the Canadian Atlantic provinces and north from Dawson City to Tuktayuctuc; I rode as part of a U.S. team across the States from Yorktown, Virginia to San Diego, California; and, an international team that rode through the Lofoton Islands of Norway. Each was self-funded, set off with contributions from many of you. Our goal is to be ambassadors for people living with PD - drawing attention, promoting understanding and expanding awareness - and, for people whose lives are already touched by PD, we want to encourage them to join the discussion, participate in a useful PD community, and adopt health-promoting exercise habits.
Help us keep the momentum going.
