“There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.” Stephen Covey
“I haven’t gotten stuck with something because I just keep going, and I keep doing different things.” Lili Taylor
My Absence the Past Few Months: Three points to write about.
•#1- Conflict of time between blog writing and article writing- Although I have been retired from my career of academic medicine for over three years, I still feel that I am transitioning to being retired. I remain committed to writing and publishing articles on diverse topics related to Parkinson’s. In a career that required the continual writing of research proposals to support my research endeavors financially, I was bolstered by publishing articles and review articles in this field, authored by the laboratory research group that was explicitly recruited to work with my laboratory. And this research was balanced by teaching students (undergraduate, medical, and graduate students) and various administrative duties.
Yes, for the past few months, I have been writing a new review article on Parkinson’s. The goal has been to write a comprehensive review that both patients and professionals would find helpful in their understanding of this disease. However, I also decided that I could not do both blog writing and article writing simultaneously. Furthermore, article writing just totally ‘consumes’ my time, which thoroughly interferes with my life otherwise. It is embarrassing how much time I spend reading, planning, and writing in each article I’ve published recently. However, the article is nearing completion as I await some material from my co-authors. My mind is back in the blog-writing mode again.
#2- Medical issues, surgeries, and other things both unrelated and related to Parkinson’s- In the past year, I have experienced several medical events, including:
-arthroscopic knee surgery;
-kidney cysts evaluation (ultrasound and now I have a nephrologist);
-cataract surgery for both eyes;
-physical therapy for knee, hip, groin, glutes, and lower back issues;
-lumbar spine injections with anti-inflammatory agents;
-routine colonoscopy;
-right-sided stiff neck and slight curvature requiring physical therapy;
-cardiologist for an EKG and evaluation of my heart and cardiovascular health;
-beginning of freezing of gait (FOG) from Parkinson’s;
-switching from traditional carbidopa/levodopa to new extended-release carbidopa/levodopa (Crexont);
-tapering off of the dopamine agonist patch (NeuPro);
-and finally, in late May, total hip replacement surgery and physical therapy to strengthen the right hip, leg and lower back.
Each medical procedure was successful, but they each required necessary recoveries, treatment steps, and adjustments that I would consider obstacles, altering my daily routine. But my body has recovered from the procedures, giving me a relatively good bill of health. Now I can truly focus on getting back in shape through daily exercise (no more excuses), get back on the golf course, and start focusing on my battle against my Parkinson’s. And planning and writing a blog post is part of my fight against Parkinson’s.
#3- Regaining my edge and resilience against Parkinson’s- There is a fragility to anyone’s response against Parkinson’s, mine included. I felt that over the past few months, I had lost some confidence in my emotional approach, or better yet, I was not doing enough to thwart my Parkinson’s. In fact, Parkinson’s had eroded some of my resilience. And I felt that my Parkinson’s had been slowly progressing, despite my efforts against the disorder. Thus, my effort to stay positive, remain hopeful, be persistent, and never waver in the fight against my disorder had weakened and some cracks had appeared.
When this feeling emerged, I turned to my blog and re-read some of my posts. I have said several times over the past decade that I write these blogs for everyone, but I do write them for me. I use the words, thoughts, and stories to reinforce my will, restore my strength, and reignite my mind and body against the evilness we know as Parkinson’s. Some of these blog posts that I recently re-read included:
•”Six Things a Person with Parkinson’s can Learn from Rory McIlroy’s Victory in the 2025 Masters Golf Tournament” (click here);
•”Journey with Parkinson’s: A Reality Check” (click here);
•”Journey with Parkinson’s: Let Me Live, Let Me Live Again” (click here);
•”10 Rules for Living With Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”160 Quotes to Support Your Life With Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Journey With Parkinson’s: Crossing the Bridge” (click here);
•”Parkinson’s: I Won’t Crumble With You If You Fall” (click here);
•”The Importance of Exercise to Help Manage Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Words Worth Living in the Presence of Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Journey With Parkinson’s: Everyday Heroes” (click here);
•”Parkinson’s: Feeling Good” (click here);
•”Frank Words on Living With Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Parkinson’s: Don’t Stop” (click here);
•”Parkinson’s: You Got To Move” (click here);
•”Parkinson’s: Never Give Up the Fight” (click here);
•”Understanding The Positive Health Benefits of Gratitude” (click here);
•”Words with Hope” (click here);
•”Staying Hopeful With Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”10 Life Lessons With Parkinson’s Disease” (click here);
•”Positively Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Imagine Yourself Then, Imagine Yourself Now With Parkinson’s” (click here);
•”Air Force Core Values And A Life Lived” (click here).
Mind the Gap – A Summary of Thoughts: My mind has been tired and unable to ignite a fire within me to keep pressing hard against Parkinson’s. The time away from writing the blog has been helpful, because I felt no stress to write something. However, the blog has pulled me back, calmed my mind, and now I am ready to begin contributing again.
I really like the sentiment expressed by the one-and-only blues singer and guitar player, B.B. King, in this comment: “I think I’ve done the best I could have done. But I keep wanting to play better, go further. There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven’t yet done. When I was younger I thought maybe I’d reached that peak. But I’m 86 now, and if I make it through to next month, I’ll be 87. And now I know it can never be perfect, it can never be exactly what it should be, so you got to keep going further, getting better. ”
I interpret what B.B. King is telling us as never to give up, to stay focused on the challenges presented to us, strive for perfection, but accept the completion of the task, and keep living for today, because before you know it, the days will turn into years. Here’s to aiming for wellness and health; the result will hopefully be a life well-lived with Parkinson’s.
“No man is broken because bad things happen to him. He’s broken because he doesn’t keep going after those things happen.” Courtney Milan
Journey with Parkinson's 
You can’t choose your circumstances; you can choose how you respond to them.
Nice post and a helpful reminder. Thank you.
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Thanks Ben, I appreciate your comments, Frank
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Welcome back Frank. I’ve missed you. Wonderful quote by BB king. Thanks as always for the inspiration!
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William, thanks for your support. It is good to be back writing again. Take care, Frank
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Frank, you most certainly have been missed. I am encouraged by your tenacity as I have had a few “woe is me” moments the past year. I am in process of publishing my 3rd book ( the first two were practice). I’ve even picked up a patron who is carrying the project across the finish line. I can’t tell you encouraging this is. Personally, I was running out of steam in the project. I still continue to challenge my neuro every time I see him. I am speaking in two weeks at The South Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville. Carry on the good fight. No one can or will do it for you!!!
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Tommy, great to hear from you! I am impressed that book #3 is in the works. Congratulations, and keep pushing to the end of the project. I recall you were interviewed as a neuro-patient at MUSC; that must have gone well. Have fun at the new medical school in SC. Yesterday, we went down and got our annual fall vaccines. I ended up getting the flu shot, as well as the COVID-19 and RSV vaccines. My reasoning for the RSV is that Parkinson’s can promote less of an effective response in lung function in an illness. There is no doubt in my mind about the importance of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines for older adults. OK, stay strong and be healthy, Frank
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Mr. Church,
I recently came across very encouraging message via Dr. Lewis Clarke for those with Parkinsons and other neurodegenerative conditions.
“The Breakdown of the Brain in Parkinsons” Dr. Lewis Clarke on youtube
https://drlewisclarke.comhttps://drlewisclarke.com/
I have sent email to you before after discovering your blog.
My Dad has had it for some years and managing fairly well. Theracycle has been a mainstay in keeping balance, strength and gait.
https://www.theracycle.comhttps://www.theracycle.com/
Kind Regards,
Kristin Posson
(919)749-7579
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Kristin, thank you very much for this email. First, I applaud your effort to help your father deal with Parkinson’s. It certainly seems like his exercise program with the Theracycle has been very helpful in maintaining his balance, strength, and gait. This could also imply that this exercise routine has helped him maintain a certain level of dopamine and dopamine receptors in his brain, which is all good.
I did listen to Dr. Clarke’s presentation, it is interesting. Parkinson’s is such a complex disease that is not surprising that neurologists don’t know everything, but they certainly know a lot more than most of us about Parkinson’s.
The part about nicotine is interesting but not new. Some earlier studies suggest that nicotine (patch) has some promise in helping Parkinson’s patients (Quik M, O’Leary K, Tanner CM. Nicotine and Parkinson’s disease: implications for therapy. Mov Disord. 2008 Sep 15;23(12):1641-52. doi: 10.1002/mds.21900. PMID: 18683238; PMCID: PMC4430096.). However, large-scale studies in 2018 using the nicotine patch have shown no benefit in causing regression of Parkinson’s (a published study funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01560754; EudraCT number, 2010-020299-42).
In other parts of Dr. Clarke’s presentation, he shows information about hormones and statins and DHEA, etc. Again, this is interesting. There is a long-standing debate about statins, and whether water-loving (water soluble) or lipid-loving (water insoluble) statins are better for Parkinson’s patients. The bottom line is that cholesterol metabolism in the brain is altered (reduced) by lipophilic statins (atorvastatin, simvastatin, and lovastatin), which can more easily enter the blood-brain barrier and therefore, could affect cholesterol metabolism in the brain. Whereas the water-soluble statins (rosuvastatin and pravastatin) cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier and will not directly influence cholesterol synthesis in the brain. It is unclear whether switching to a ‘hydrophobic-like’ statin would improve cholesterol metabolism, and the synthesis of DHEA, among other factors, is not well understood. But in some ways, it shouldn’t hurt one either if a PwP wants to switch to a water-soluble-type statin.
I would agree with Dr. Clarke’s physical therapy and exercise suggestions; in fact, the biggest benefit of all of his suggestions may be driven by exercise, especially in early-stage Parkinson’s patients.
An example of something I supported but then stopped using was Isradipine. I was very interested in the preliminary studies supporting the use of Isradipine for treating Parkinson’s. In fact, I took it for three years, and every six months, my neurologist would ask me, “How is a calcium channel blocker going to slow Parkinson’s?” The results of the Isradipine clinical trial showed no benefit in treating Parkinson’s. So I stopped taking it. Parkinson Study Group STEADY-PD III Investigators. Isradipine Versus Placebo in Early Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2020 May 5;172(9):591-598. doi: 10.7326/M19-2534. Epub 2020 Mar 31. PMID: 32227247; PMCID: PMC7465126.
In closing, I am not criticizing Dr. Clarke’s presentation; he seems most sincere in his opinion and efforts to treat Parkinson’s. We are all looking for the next avenue to follow, and there is no doubt that what I have said here and in my blog posts could be right or wrong, but I definitely try to base what I say on published data and clinical studies (and in some cases, Ayurverdic medicine that has been around for thousands of years). And I think it is critical to describe and present the pros and cons of the data published when discussing a new approach to treating Parkinson’s. It would be beneficial if Dr. Clarke published his results in a peer-reviewed journal to share them with the broader scientific community. The preliminary studies are interesting. I look forward to more studies from Dr. Clarke. And continued success with you advising your father, and his dealing with his Parkinson’s. Best wishes, Frank
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