• “The Team”

    I was listening to the BBC World Service broadcast this weekend and heard a very interesting interview with John Harbaugh, coach of the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team.  One of his guiding coaching philosophy’s  came from the legendary University of Michigan coach Bo Shembechler who believed in “The Team.”  Many of the Parkinson’s support organizations talk about the need for a team approach in battling Parkinson’s.  For example, The National Parkinson’s Foundation (NPF) have designated Centers of Excellence and Care Centers that provide a team approach. In fact, that designation is what led to my visit to the University of Florida Movement Disorders Center in January.  You can read about my visit here.

    Now the Michael J Fox Foundation and AbbVie Inc have teamed up to form Partners in Parkinson’s which “… aims to fill in knowledge gaps, provide new educational tools and resources for the Parkinson’s community to help Parkinson’s patients and caregivers optimize care at every stage of the disease, now and in the future.”   Their motto is ‘Discover the Benefit of  Team’ and they have a great website which is chock full of good information including a section on “Building your Care Team”  In addition to the website they are conducting informational events in cities across the country (we are signed up for the Atlanta event in September) and the site includes a search tool to find Movement Disorder Specialist (MDS) in your area.

    Of course ‘My Team‘ includes my doctor, my neurologist, my physical therapist and the other medical personnel who are in charge of my medical care. But of even more importance, my team includes my wonderful wife/primary caregiver, family members, friends, the other PwP bloggers I read or follow on twitter, the members of the support groups I attend, and you, the readers of this blog. All of you provide me with needed support, both physical and mental, helping me deal with my Parkinson’s disease. You are all appreciated and I thank you for your support.

    And for me and other People with Parkinson’s ‘Our Team‘ includes the many researchers who are out to find better methods of treating or curing Parkinson’s and the many organizations such as The Michael J Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson’s Foundation, the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, the Parkinson’s Action Network and others who provide us with up to date information, help to prioritize and fund the research, and advocate for our rights.  All of the ‘Our Team’ members need and deserve our thanks and support.

    As I mentioned in my last post, I continue use the Fox Trial Finder to look for clinical trials and I have been accepted in one that tracks my typing cadence to measure my fine motor skills.  I suppose they are measuring that cadence right now 🙂  I will get the results at the end of the 90 day test period.  I definitely notice problems with my fine motor skills so will be interested to see what they discover.

    Last week was support group week and we attended both groups.  The East TN group included a presentation on adaptive equipment available to deal with problems like putting on shoes, buttoning shirts, cooking, eating, etc.  The local group presentation was from a Physical Therapist who is trained in the LSTV BIG program developed for Parkinson’s patients.   The program is a four week, four days a week training program that aims to improve gait, trunk rotation and balance.  I had read about the program but was not aware it was offered locally.  Last weekend was also high school graduation weekend for our oldest grandson, Garrett , more on that exciting event in the next post.

  • West Coast Travels

    Hello from San Diego! We have had a wonderful trip to the Southwest and West Coast.  We spent the first couple of days in Tucson with Karen and Jerry, friends from Bay City, MI.  Jerry was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at about the same time as I was so we spent some time comparing our different symptoms, medications, and such. As always, I found it interesting how each of us experience different PD symptoms, what a crazy disease.

    We explored Tucson and the surrounding area for a couple of days before leaving for San Diego.  Karen and Jerry were excellent hosts and we had a great time hiking in Sabino Canyon, walking around downtown Tucson and enjoying the happy hour at the Ritz Carlton at Dove Mountain where we could hear echos from a flutist playing Indian flutes across the canyon from the outside patio.

    We left Tucson and drove to San Diego where Ryan, Sarah and Julian were in the process of moving out of their apartment and into their new residence a few blocks away.  They had just started the move and we got to help with emptying boxes, putting away household items, etc.  and still found time to attend a couple of Julian’s Lacrosse games, go to the beach for sunsets and nice walks, and visit with Sarah’s sister Allison and her husband Kevin and their new little baby, Jack, born two days before we got here.  We have enjoyed several great meals, a trip to San Clemente, and a great lunch at the Stone Brewery World Bistro – Liberty Station in San Diego.  It has been a great visit and we are glad to enjoy their company and to help them with the move.

    I’ve been on the new increased medication dose for about a week and a half and have seen good improvement with my gait and balance.  Also I haven’t had problems with fatigue despite the busy days.  I have been keeping up with my research and saw an interesting article today about the benefits of acupuncture for balance and gait problems.  It certainly sounds promising and worth looking into further.  I applied for two clinical trials last week but didn’t meet all of the criteria for either one this time around.  Lack of research participants is a big problem and I am registered with the Michael J Fox Trial Finder to get notifications of any new trials that I might qualify for so maybe next time.  I urge all you PWPs out there to register, we need to support the research being done to defeat Parkinson’s.

    We are off to Sierra Vista, AZ next for a few more days of visiting with friends before we return home.  In the meantime, don’t forget it is still Parkinson’s Awareness Month. This video by Davis Phinney, former Professional and Olympic bike racer with Parkinson’s, is inspirational and worth watching.  It is about 23 minutes long and was filmed at one of his Victory Summits that he holds around the country.  You can view the video here .  Until next time, remember It Is What It Is!

  • Will This Winter Ever End?

    Hello from cold and snowy Eastern Tennessee, where we are forecast to set a new record low tonight, 28 degrees, which will do wonders for all the fruit trees and new plants just coming up after a nice warm typical April week.  But we have a plan, we are leaving for Tucson tomorrow morning where it is forecast to be 90 degrees!

    The East Tennessee Parkinson’s Unity walk was great, a nice turn out on a cool and windy Saturday morning, about 150 walkers.  Several nice exhibits, a nice send off talk from a local Neurologist and away we went for a nice 1.5 mile walk around the park in Oak Ridge.  Another great opportunity to meet and talk with other PWP’s.

    I had an appointment with my Neurologist today and we have decided to increase the amount of my medication to see if we can improve my balance and fine motor skills.  We discussed when to switch to the ‘gold standard’ drug, Levadopa.  He felt that as long as I am getting effective response from my current drug with limited or no side effects, we should hold off, so that is the plan for now.

    As you have noticed, I still haven’t posted a list of blogs I follow, but one I follow Parkinson’s Journey, by Sherri Woodbridge, has a list of blogs as part of her Parkinson’s Awareness Month posts and I was pleased to see mine listed.  You can view her entire list here , and if you have time, I highly recommend reading her other posts for April, they have all been informative and I look forward to each daily post.

    As I mentioned in the opening, we are off to Arizona to visit with friends and to San Diego to visit with my son and his family so my next post will be from the western side of the country.  Until then, remember, It Is What It Is!

A Hodgepodge – Part Two

And I’m back!  I noticed that I didn’t mention anything in the last post about how my buddy Parkinson’s and I are getting along. Things are pretty much stable, still some arm stiffness and shuffling when I walk and the occasional balance problem.  I don’t have the sticky feet problem nearly as often nor the internal tremors so, all in all, things are OK.

As I have noted before, I follow many other blogs, websites, and Twitter accounts related to Parkinson’s, probably close to 50 if I took the time to count them all.  I have been planning to add a page with the list of who I follow to this blog and maybe that will happen one of these days soon, but remember, apathy is a non-motor symptom so don’t hold your breath. 🙂

One of the blogs I follow is Tremors in the Universe written by Robert Baittie.  In a recent post, Chapter 36 Whistle while you twerk,  he talks about another symptom of PD, micrographia and from there he… well here, I’ll let you read it yourself picking up where he defines micrographia:

“The symptom as it appears in association with Parkinson’s disease is called micrographia, and in handwriting or penmanship is characterized by abnormally small, cramped handwriting and/or the progression to continually smaller handwriting. It’s cause, according to the National Parkinson’s Foundation is attributed to a common feature of PD which is a slowing of movement, and feelings of muscle stiffness in the hands and fingers. Loss of automatic motion also affects the easy, flowing motion of handwriting. This can impact even simple writing taskssuch as signing your name.”

“Which started me thinking.”

“Parkinson’s disease is named after the English doctor James Parkinson, who published the first detailed description in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817.”

“In 1817”.

“Might there be any signatures of record prior to 1817 that show signs of a typical Parkinson’s style of writing?”

“Of what importance was that to me? Well my entire attitude around my diagnosis of Parkinson’s has been about succeeding with the disease and having and maintaining a positive attitude towards dealing with it. I was curious if there might be individuals who had continued to achieve and possibly even made a mark in history while in the midst of dealing with PD? At a time when they didn’t have today’s technology, support and treatments. Obviously this was all pure speculation because prior to 1817 it was not classified or known as Parkinson’s. But I was curious none the less.”

“The first thing I did was to Google micrographia thinking I might find a visual example of the malady that I could use for comparison to any earlier documents I might come across. And sure enough, in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia a writing example of a Parkinson’s patient.”
image
“The next step was to begin searching documents prior to 1817 that might offer a similar writing style”.

“Now I was not going to go about this by pure happenstance, on the contrary, I had a hunch and I had definite place in mind to start. There was one document in particular I wanted to take a look at. And sure
enough my hunch or maybe I should say my “intuition” was correct.”

image
Stephen Hopkins

“Here was my individual of notoriety that I felt had that characteristic signature at a time when the flourish of stylized and ornate signatures and penmanship were the art form of the day.”

“Here was a man among men. Stephen Hopkins. Born in 1707 and died in 1785 at the age of 78. He came from a prominent Rhode Island family and most definitely left his mark upon a nation. Not only did my initial
examination of the document serve to heighten my belief, but further readings of his biography removed all doubt. His own admission was proof enough for me.”

“In the summer of 1776, while holding his right hand with his left, saying, “although my hand trembles, my heart does not” Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island delegate to the First Continental Congress,
signed the Declaration of Independence.”

image

“It gave me tremendous pause to sit and look at that Declaration of Independence and those signatures and to think about the thoughts that must have been going through Stephen Hopkins mind. Not only could I
imagine he had a sense of uncertainty and fear for what the future held for our new country at that time, but he was simultaneously dealing with the uncertainty of and concern for his own health. He held the same
questions in his mind then about his health, that millions still hold to this day. What is causing this? What can be done?”

“And as I reread those simple words of Stephen Hopkins, a number of thoughts came to mind. First, I felt a tremendous amount of respect for the man because he was not afraid to share with his friends and
colleagues the disease that afflicted him. Especially at a time when there was no explanation he could offer for what ailed him. He openly called attention to and acknowledged his tremor and in doing so said he
was not ashamed of it. Second was that he had not allowed his tremor or the disease to limit him.  He had continued on with his passion for his work. But most profoundly to me was the double meaning I took from the words as a whole. While obviously in one context he is referring to our young nation and “though his hand trembles” while signing this Declaration of Independence “his heart does not” because he believes
this to be the right direction for his country, the other context it speaks to for me is the disease of Parkinson’s itself. The words make the analogy of how I have felt all along. “Although my hand trembles, my heart does not.” It’s that strange sense of the positive and knowing that although I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, everything I feel in my heart tells me there is nothing to fear and I will be alright. That I can and will deal with whatever it brings me.”

“Over 230 years later since the documents signing technology is most definitely moving at a rapid pace, and the research being done toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s is as well. But to continue that work and
to hasten the success, additional funding is always needed. Volunteers and Foundations continue to spearhead the vast majority of the fundraising efforts but more needs to be done.”

“Given that, I find it extremely ironic that this would be the example of the signature I would find. A statesmen, a member of the First Continental Congress. Because additional support and funding from our government is what is needed to keep progress moving forward and ultimately finding a cure. And so I would like to ask everyone reading this to take the opportunity to write your Congressman with a steady hand to request that they show the heart of our founding fathers and support increased funding for Parkinson’s research. (emphasis added)

Reblog it. ReTweet it. Do it for your self. Or someone you love.

More to come.
Tremors in the Universe Copyright © 2014 by Robert Baittie”

To find out what prompted Robert to research micrographia, read the complete post of Chapter 36 here.  I think you will find it interesting and I highly recommend reading some or all of his other ‘Chapters’.

What a great statement “although my hand tremors, my heart does not” and as the Michael J Fox Foundation says “Our challenges don’t define us. Our actions do”  We can and will deal with whatever Parkinson’s throws at us on our way to finding a cure.

I also agree that we need to continue to urge Congress to support increased funding for Parkinson’s research.  In that vein,the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) is sponsoring a Parkinson’s Day of Action on February 26th. They ask that you contact your Representatives and ask for their support.  They have provided information here on how to contact your representatives, some sample statements you can use and links to why we need more funding for research.  I urge you to join me and PAN on Wednesday, February 26th and contact your Congressional Representatives.

As I write this post, we are watching it snow as we are under another winter storm warning for the next couple of days, just hoping it clears up here and in Atlanta by Friday so we can start our trip to what I hope is a warm Florida.  We are looking forward to the trip and a chance to meet up with  a couple that we met during the Kripalu retreat.  ‘See’ you next week.

A Hodgepodge – Part Two

And I’m back!  I noticed that I didn’t mention anything in the last post about how my buddy Parkinson’s and I are getting along. Things are pretty much stable, still some arm stiffness and shuffling when I walk and the occasional balance problem.  I don’t have the sticky feet problem nearly as often nor the internal tremors so, all in all, things are OK.

As I have noted before, I follow many other blogs, websites, and Twitter accounts related to Parkinson’s, probably close to 50 if I took the time to count them all.  I have been planning to add a page with the list of who I follow to this blog and maybe that will happen one of these days soon, but remember, apathy is a non-motor symptom so don’t hold your breath. 🙂

One of the blogs I follow is Tremors in the Universe written by Robert Baittie.  In a recent post, Chapter 36 Whistle while you twerk,  he talks about another symptom of PD, micrographia and from there he… well here, I’ll let you read it yourself picking up where he defines micrographia:

“The symptom as it appears in association with Parkinson’s disease is called micrographia, and in handwriting or penmanship is characterized by abnormally small, cramped handwriting and/or the progression to continually smaller handwriting. It’s cause, according to the National Parkinson’s Foundation is attributed to a common feature of PD which is a slowing of movement, and feelings of muscle stiffness in the hands and fingers. Loss of automatic motion also affects the easy, flowing motion of handwriting. This can impact even simple writing taskssuch as signing your name.”

“Which started me thinking.”

“Parkinson’s disease is named after the English doctor James Parkinson, who published the first detailed description in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817.”

“In 1817”.

“Might there be any signatures of record prior to 1817 that show signs of a typical Parkinson’s style of writing?”

“Of what importance was that to me? Well my entire attitude around my diagnosis of Parkinson’s has been about succeeding with the disease and having and maintaining a positive attitude towards dealing with it. I was curious if there might be individuals who had continued to achieve and possibly even made a mark in history while in the midst of dealing with PD? At a time when they didn’t have today’s technology, support and treatments. Obviously this was all pure speculation because prior to 1817 it was not classified or known as Parkinson’s. But I was curious none the less.”

“The first thing I did was to Google micrographia thinking I might find a visual example of the malady that I could use for comparison to any earlier documents I might come across. And sure enough, in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia a writing example of a Parkinson’s patient.”
image
“The next step was to begin searching documents prior to 1817 that might offer a similar writing style”.

“Now I was not going to go about this by pure happenstance, on the contrary, I had a hunch and I had definite place in mind to start. There was one document in particular I wanted to take a look at. And sure
enough my hunch or maybe I should say my “intuition” was correct.”

image
Stephen Hopkins

“Here was my individual of notoriety that I felt had that characteristic signature at a time when the flourish of stylized and ornate signatures and penmanship were the art form of the day.”

“Here was a man among men. Stephen Hopkins. Born in 1707 and died in 1785 at the age of 78. He came from a prominent Rhode Island family and most definitely left his mark upon a nation. Not only did my initial
examination of the document serve to heighten my belief, but further readings of his biography removed all doubt. His own admission was proof enough for me.”

“In the summer of 1776, while holding his right hand with his left, saying, “although my hand trembles, my heart does not” Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island delegate to the First Continental Congress,
signed the Declaration of Independence.”

image

“It gave me tremendous pause to sit and look at that Declaration of Independence and those signatures and to think about the thoughts that must have been going through Stephen Hopkins mind. Not only could I
imagine he had a sense of uncertainty and fear for what the future held for our new country at that time, but he was simultaneously dealing with the uncertainty of and concern for his own health. He held the same
questions in his mind then about his health, that millions still hold to this day. What is causing this? What can be done?”

“And as I reread those simple words of Stephen Hopkins, a number of thoughts came to mind. First, I felt a tremendous amount of respect for the man because he was not afraid to share with his friends and
colleagues the disease that afflicted him. Especially at a time when there was no explanation he could offer for what ailed him. He openly called attention to and acknowledged his tremor and in doing so said he
was not ashamed of it. Second was that he had not allowed his tremor or the disease to limit him.  He had continued on with his passion for his work. But most profoundly to me was the double meaning I took from the words as a whole. While obviously in one context he is referring to our young nation and “though his hand trembles” while signing this Declaration of Independence “his heart does not” because he believes
this to be the right direction for his country, the other context it speaks to for me is the disease of Parkinson’s itself. The words make the analogy of how I have felt all along. “Although my hand trembles, my heart does not.” It’s that strange sense of the positive and knowing that although I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, everything I feel in my heart tells me there is nothing to fear and I will be alright. That I can and will deal with whatever it brings me.”

“Over 230 years later since the documents signing technology is most definitely moving at a rapid pace, and the research being done toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s is as well. But to continue that work and
to hasten the success, additional funding is always needed. Volunteers and Foundations continue to spearhead the vast majority of the fundraising efforts but more needs to be done.”

“Given that, I find it extremely ironic that this would be the example of the signature I would find. A statesmen, a member of the First Continental Congress. Because additional support and funding from our government is what is needed to keep progress moving forward and ultimately finding a cure. And so I would like to ask everyone reading this to take the opportunity to write your Congressman with a steady hand to request that they show the heart of our founding fathers and support increased funding for Parkinson’s research. (emphasis added)

Reblog it. ReTweet it. Do it for your self. Or someone you love.

More to come.
Tremors in the Universe Copyright © 2014 by Robert Baittie”

To find out what prompted Robert to research micrographia, read the complete post of Chapter 36 here.  I think you will find it interesting and I highly recommend reading some or all of his other ‘Chapters’.

What a great statement “although my hand tremors, my heart does not” and as the Michael J Fox Foundation says “Our challenges don’t define us. Our actions do”  We can and will deal with whatever Parkinson’s throws at us on our way to finding a cure.

I also agree that we need to continue to urge Congress to support increased funding for Parkinson’s research.  In that vein,the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) is sponsoring a Parkinson’s Day of Action on February 26th. They ask that you contact your Representatives and ask for their support.  They have provided information here on how to contact your representatives, some sample statements you can use and links to why we need more funding for research.  I urge you to join me and PAN on Wednesday, February 26th and contact your Congressional Representatives.

As I write this post, we are watching it snow as we are under another winter storm warning for the next couple of days, just hoping it clears up here and in Atlanta by Friday so we can start our trip to what I hope is a warm Florida.  We are looking forward to the trip and a chance to meet up with  a couple that we met during the Kripalu retreat.  ‘See’ you next week.

A Hodgepodge – Part Two

And I’m back!  I noticed that I didn’t mention anything in the last post about how my buddy Parkinson’s and I are getting along. Things are pretty much stable, still some arm stiffness and shuffling when I walk and the occasional balance problem.  I don’t have the sticky feet problem nearly as often nor the internal tremors so, all in all, things are OK.

As I have noted before, I follow many other blogs, websites, and Twitter accounts related to Parkinson’s, probably close to 50 if I took the time to count them all.  I have been planning to add a page with the list of who I follow to this blog and maybe that will happen one of these days soon, but remember, apathy is a non-motor symptom so don’t hold your breath. 🙂

One of the blogs I follow is Tremors in the Universe written by Robert Baittie.  In a recent post, Chapter 36 Whistle while you twerk,  he talks about another symptom of PD, micrographia and from there he… well here, I’ll let you read it yourself picking up where he defines micrographia:

“The symptom as it appears in association with Parkinson’s disease is called micrographia, and in handwriting or penmanship is characterized by abnormally small, cramped handwriting and/or the progression to continually smaller handwriting. It’s cause, according to the National Parkinson’s Foundation is attributed to a common feature of PD which is a slowing of movement, and feelings of muscle stiffness in the hands and fingers. Loss of automatic motion also affects the easy, flowing motion of handwriting. This can impact even simple writing taskssuch as signing your name.”

“Which started me thinking.”

“Parkinson’s disease is named after the English doctor James Parkinson, who published the first detailed description in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817.”

“In 1817”.

“Might there be any signatures of record prior to 1817 that show signs of a typical Parkinson’s style of writing?”

“Of what importance was that to me? Well my entire attitude around my diagnosis of Parkinson’s has been about succeeding with the disease and having and maintaining a positive attitude towards dealing with it. I was curious if there might be individuals who had continued to achieve and possibly even made a mark in history while in the midst of dealing with PD? At a time when they didn’t have today’s technology, support and treatments. Obviously this was all pure speculation because prior to 1817 it was not classified or known as Parkinson’s. But I was curious none the less.”

“The first thing I did was to Google micrographia thinking I might find a visual example of the malady that I could use for comparison to any earlier documents I might come across. And sure enough, in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia a writing example of a Parkinson’s patient.”
image
“The next step was to begin searching documents prior to 1817 that might offer a similar writing style”.

“Now I was not going to go about this by pure happenstance, on the contrary, I had a hunch and I had definite place in mind to start. There was one document in particular I wanted to take a look at. And sure
enough my hunch or maybe I should say my “intuition” was correct.”

image
Stephen Hopkins

“Here was my individual of notoriety that I felt had that characteristic signature at a time when the flourish of stylized and ornate signatures and penmanship were the art form of the day.”

“Here was a man among men. Stephen Hopkins. Born in 1707 and died in 1785 at the age of 78. He came from a prominent Rhode Island family and most definitely left his mark upon a nation. Not only did my initial
examination of the document serve to heighten my belief, but further readings of his biography removed all doubt. His own admission was proof enough for me.”

“In the summer of 1776, while holding his right hand with his left, saying, “although my hand trembles, my heart does not” Stephen Hopkins, a Rhode Island delegate to the First Continental Congress,
signed the Declaration of Independence.”

image

“It gave me tremendous pause to sit and look at that Declaration of Independence and those signatures and to think about the thoughts that must have been going through Stephen Hopkins mind. Not only could I
imagine he had a sense of uncertainty and fear for what the future held for our new country at that time, but he was simultaneously dealing with the uncertainty of and concern for his own health. He held the same
questions in his mind then about his health, that millions still hold to this day. What is causing this? What can be done?”

“And as I reread those simple words of Stephen Hopkins, a number of thoughts came to mind. First, I felt a tremendous amount of respect for the man because he was not afraid to share with his friends and
colleagues the disease that afflicted him. Especially at a time when there was no explanation he could offer for what ailed him. He openly called attention to and acknowledged his tremor and in doing so said he
was not ashamed of it. Second was that he had not allowed his tremor or the disease to limit him.  He had continued on with his passion for his work. But most profoundly to me was the double meaning I took from the words as a whole. While obviously in one context he is referring to our young nation and “though his hand trembles” while signing this Declaration of Independence “his heart does not” because he believes
this to be the right direction for his country, the other context it speaks to for me is the disease of Parkinson’s itself. The words make the analogy of how I have felt all along. “Although my hand trembles, my heart does not.” It’s that strange sense of the positive and knowing that although I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, everything I feel in my heart tells me there is nothing to fear and I will be alright. That I can and will deal with whatever it brings me.”

“Over 230 years later since the documents signing technology is most definitely moving at a rapid pace, and the research being done toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s is as well. But to continue that work and
to hasten the success, additional funding is always needed. Volunteers and Foundations continue to spearhead the vast majority of the fundraising efforts but more needs to be done.”

“Given that, I find it extremely ironic that this would be the example of the signature I would find. A statesmen, a member of the First Continental Congress. Because additional support and funding from our government is what is needed to keep progress moving forward and ultimately finding a cure. And so I would like to ask everyone reading this to take the opportunity to write your Congressman with a steady hand to request that they show the heart of our founding fathers and support increased funding for Parkinson’s research. (emphasis added)

Reblog it. ReTweet it. Do it for your self. Or someone you love.

More to come.
Tremors in the Universe Copyright © 2014 by Robert Baittie”

To find out what prompted Robert to research micrographia, read the complete post of Chapter 36 here.  I think you will find it interesting and I highly recommend reading some or all of his other ‘Chapters’.

What a great statement “although my hand tremors, my heart does not” and as the Michael J Fox Foundation says “Our challenges don’t define us. Our actions do”  We can and will deal with whatever Parkinson’s throws at us on our way to finding a cure.

I also agree that we need to continue to urge Congress to support increased funding for Parkinson’s research.  In that vein,the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN) is sponsoring a Parkinson’s Day of Action on February 26th. They ask that you contact your Representatives and ask for their support.  They have provided information here on how to contact your representatives, some sample statements you can use and links to why we need more funding for research.  I urge you to join me and PAN on Wednesday, February 26th and contact your Congressional Representatives.

As I write this post, we are watching it snow as we are under another winter storm warning for the next couple of days, just hoping it clears up here and in Atlanta by Friday so we can start our trip to what I hope is a warm Florida.  We are looking forward to the trip and a chance to meet up with  a couple that we met during the Kripalu retreat.  ‘See’ you next week.

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