Steve AltenAuthor and scribe
Steve Alten |
I put aside my writing; every waking moment now devoted to researching and finding alternative treatments. I tried using a hyperbaric chamber but after 28 sessions felt no improvements. I flirted with taking mucuna pruriens but feared the side effects of a substance that no one seemed to have a handle on. A Parkinson's patient introduced me to a biochemist in Europe who had developed an all-natural vegetable extract possessing similar benefits of Sinemet without any side-effects. He sent me sample jars, but it didn't seem to help.I was depressed and began to hate my daily existence, especially the strain it was placing on my family. I never contemplated suicide, but the thought of dying no longer scared me.The low-light came one night while taking the garbage out. I took three steps backwards -- and fell butt-first into one of the recycling bins! I was bruised and scraped up and I couldn't get out; I was like a turtle stuck on its back. Tears of anger poured down my face as I struggled to stand, but failed to gain enough leverage. Finally, I rolled over sideways and crawled out of the cursed trap. The next day I waved the white flag and called my neurologist.
"Acceptance does not mean resignation. It means understanding that something is what it is and there's got to be a way through it. Our challenges don't define us. Actions do." --Michael J. Fox"
Get me the drugs!"He prescribed three Sinemet a day, plus a Neupro patch. The transition wasn't easy. I felt horrible. And then one night a bad reaction led to an amazing discovery. My wife had taken the kids to visit her cousin. Alone in the house, I awoke to a frightening feeling -- a cold, paralyzing numbness was creeping from my feet up into my legs; my body shutting down! I was terrified and realized if I didn't force myself out of bed I might not wake up. I stumbled to the kitchen in a state of panic and desperate -- took a spoonful of that vegetable extract. Within minutes, a warm sensation replaced the cold. I felt life returning to my body.It seems the extract may have latched onto the Sinemet and had a synergistic effect. After a month of trial and error, I figured out how to alternate the two, reducing my symptoms by 70-80 percent while only taking two Sinemet a day.
Over the last three months, I've been using Howard Shifke's Parkinson's Recipe for Recovery, written by a fellow PD patient who cured himself using different movements and a vegan diet. It makes absolutely no sense but I always feel better after doing it. I'm also five weeks into a detox program that shows promise. No matter, what, I refuse to accept this disease as anything other than a speed bump. As Dylan Thomas wrote, "Do not go gently into that good night... rage, rage against the dying of the light.
"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-alten/why-i-refuse-to-give-in-t_b_9440936.html
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