I've just been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

September 09, 2016 

Mike Oliver (Ginnard Archibald, GArchibald@al.com)

I've just been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

When I said those words to a small gathering at a Parkinson's support group, there was a catch in my voice, my lip trembled. When I said those words a few days later to my two immediate supervisors at work, there was a catch in my voice and my eyes teared upIt was fresh pain. Raw.

Weeks have gone by since the Aug. 11 diagnosis of Parkinson's. I'm still trying to wrap my 56-year-old brain around it. I've got time. It's a slow moving disease. There is no cure.

Physically it only gets worse. Will I lose my ability to walk? At some point, maybe, yes. Will I lose my memory?  At some point, maybe, yes. Dementia sometimes can go hand-in-hand with Parkinson's, hopefully later than sooner.

In a nutshell, here's what's happening in one part of my brain: Neurons are dying. These neurons are counted on for producing a chemical called dopamine. This diminished dopamine results in less control over the body's movements and emotions. Think Michael J. Fox's swooping arm movements or Muhammad Ali's steady shaking when lighting the Olympic cauldron in Atlanta in 1996.

No one knows the cause of these neuron deaths or how to keep it from progressing. But medication and exercise have proven to slow the progression of symptoms.

In retrospect, I now know I had Parkinson's disease long before my official diagnosis. I had sleep problems for more than a year – a common Parkinson's symptom. I had increasing anxiety that felt very physical for many months, also a Parkinson's symptom.

In a nutshell, here's what's happening in one part of my brain: Neurons are dying.

As a long-time health care reporter, I'd often imagine myself with symptoms of whatever rare deadly disease I was writing about at any given time, before logic would snap me back to reality. But this time was different; I couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.

I had relatives and close friends asking me if I felt all right. They noticed I was hunching my shoulders at times, walking and talking slower.

At least six months in advance of my diagnosis, while playing my favorite sport, pick-up basketball, I noticed my right arm sliding up unconsciously against my side with my finger pointed. Then I read a story on AL.com about a person with Parkinson's who talked about how one of his symptoms was the 'classic gunslinger' position of his hand and arm: arm perched at hip or side, looking as if ready to draw an invisible gun from an invisible holster.

That was me. I knew then I had it.

But knowing it and accepting it are two different things.

I sought to have it diagnosed by a neurologist. My wife, Catherine, and my 24-year-old daughter, Claire, came along on that Aug. 11 appointment.

At UAB's Division of Neurology and Movement Disorders at Kirklin Clinic, Dr. Marissa Dean had me go through a battery of tests, checking motor skills like walking, balance, coordination. With Parkinson's there is no standard diagnostic test such as a blood test or a brain scan. Rather doctors take a history and observe a series of movements and coordination exercises.

One test involved putting the palm of my hand on my leg and then turning it over -- palm, back of the hand -- over and over to see how quickly I could turn my hand.

It reminded me of hambone, a percussive body performance of which I have some skills.

In the middle of the testing I said "Watch this."  I began slapping my thigh with an upward motion following through with a slap on the chest. Repeat, faster and faster, hambone!

 The doctor seemed dazzled; my wife bemused; my daughter started laughing.

"Now can someone with Parkinson's do that?" I asked. Apparently so. 

Moments later, Dr. Harrison Walker went through some more tests and confirmed Dean's observations:

I'm sorry to tell you, you have Parkinson's disease.

The postscript to this is I don't know what the future holds.

They say Parkinson's disease is unique to the individual, ranging from mild to severe. My symptoms are minimal now. I'm doing the things we know work to keep symptoms at bay: exercising, avoiding excessive stress, eating healthy, taking the prescribed medication, seeking support.

I'm still working my job as Senior Managing Producer at AL.com; I'm still playing pick-up basketball; and, on occasion, when the mood strikes, I'm doing a little hambone.

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Mike Oliver is a veteran journalist as editor and reporter in investigative work, health care and politics. He started at the Birmingham News in 1982 out of Auburn University and went on in 1987 to work for 12 years at the Orlando Sentinel, followed by 10 years at California's Bay Area News Group (Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times). He came full circle in 2011, returning to AL.com/The Birmingham News. He is married to Catherine, a Presbyterian pastor, and has three grown daughters.

For more information and to help find a cure go to: Michael J. Fox Foundation; Parkinson's Disease Foundation; and Davis Phinney Foundation. For information on support groups in Alabama go to Parkinson's Association of Alabama.

http://health.einnews.com/article/343960099/pBkanTCUcpZ5vNan