Hope is not a plan with Parkinson's

Hope is not a plan, but every great plan gives you hope. Someone is taking a big swing at you. Do you hope they miss and stand there or do you take action and duck? Do you hope to win the lottery or do you…..wait that one is just hope.  A speeding car is coming at you. You don’t hope it stops. You move.  Those elaborate traps the bad guys always used to try to kill James Bond, you know the ones -- they always left him in the room alone and hoped it would work out. 007 did not hope the laser would stop. He planned ahead by wearing a watch with a laser or did it have a super magnet, no…. it was a girl he charmed; actually it might have been all three.  That’s why we have so many sequels, Bond always had a plan.

This brings me to the story of 300 hundred Spartans who got together while the rest of their country stood around and threw a big party to honor the local deities as the largest army in the world was coming to conquer their small city state and steal the Spartans secrets to perfect abs and chiseled physiques. Okay, you know what I am talking about if you saw the movie -- or it just might have been a little empire building by the Persians. Either way King Leonidas was not going to sit by and hope that the armies of Greece would have enough time to get mobilized and do something about it. He took 300 of his best warriors and headed out to slow down the oncoming Persian juggernaut. The plan was to get to a place called Thermopylae, “the hot gate”, a small pass where the overwhelming numbers of the Persians could be managed and valuable time could be bought. Now for all you history enthusiasts there was a very important naval battle being fought by the Athenian politician Themistocles and helping out the 300 were 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans contributing to the effort.  The Spartans fought together shoulder to shoulder, carried big shields and long spears. Their near unstoppable phalanx formation along with six pack abs and a win or die trying attitude made them the wrong Greeks to have picked a fight with. The Spartans were better trained, conditioned, and worked as a team. That’s how they got the job done.

Being proactive was the key to slowing down Persians, not sitting around and hoping things work out for the best. It’s easy to do nothing and hope someone else will get things done. It’s easy to be compliant, to accept your station in life, and simply exist. Now do not misunderstand me, I am a firm believer in hope. Hope is a positive state of mind. Hope is what gets me up in the morning and allows all of us to think of a better future. We need hope.       

Parkinson’s is our Persian army. It is undefeated, it seems unstoppable, and it’s coming our way. We need a plan to slow down its effects until help arrives. I diet, work out, meditate, everything I can do to slow the effects of PD until a cure is found. I take a lesson from the Spartans. When facing overwhelming odds, get to a manageable place until help arrives. How did it work out for the brave 300? They bought precious time Greece needed to hand the Persians an epic defeat. We all hope that we will do the same to Parkinson’s. It also led to a great movie that inspires this Parkie to fight a little harder every time I watch it.  

I am Pat Younts and I Move to Live.

(Remember always consult your doctor to find the best plan for you.)   

Valentine's Day and Parkinson's

They say love is blind, love is unconditional, “All you need is love”, sang John Lennon. I could go on but I think you get the idea. It is Valentine’s Day, the one day of the year where we pay tribute to the greatest emotion the world has to offer, love. What would you do for love? What price can you put on it? Untold fortunes have been lavished upon the altar of love in order to show the extent of one person’s unrelenting affections for another. Love has inspired an artist to cut off his ear and a king to launch a thousand ships, songs to be sung and poems to be written, and chocolates to be put in a heart shaped box.

For me, love is a wife who can only see the man she married those many years ago -- as he was, not the shaking hands or the slowness of his body. Her love is my shield that protects me and the armor that gives me comfort. Her touch lets me believe I am still the same as I always was. After all these years, it is her love that inspires me and keeps whole.

For all those who still love all of us who fight life’s adversities whatever they may be, Happy Valentine’s Day!

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live.

Fighting Parkinson's

Rocky runs up the long rows of steps, the steam of his breath shooting into the cold Philadelphia air. His gray tattered sweat clothes soaked with perspiration had no sponsor’s logo on it, no media there to impress, and no fanfare cheering him on. There was nothing there to tell anyone what was driving him to push his body to its physical limits. When he reaches the top of the steps, he turns raising his hands triumphantly. He had not fought Apollo Creed yet. The victory he was celebrating was over himself.

The biggest opponent we normally face in life is ourselves. Overcoming fear, doubt, our own insecurities, and inner demons, add to that the doubters and naysayers and unforeseen obstacles, victory in life can often be elusive. Rocky was a long shot, a down and out club fighter whose best years were behind him, a true underdog. How many times in life do people find themselves the underdog?

At some point in all of our lives we all have been there, the chips of life stacked against us. Where does our motivation, our inspiration come from to meet this challenge? What keeps a person on that path to persevere over life’s obstacles?

It would be wonderful if we could hear inspirational music every time we needed that extra motivation to stay on track, to fight harder. Rocky heard that music clearly. It told him to wake up and drink the eggs, to get out and run before the sun had risen. The music he heard was a symphony of self inspiration that was performed in his own mind over and over again pushing him to face his challenge. I can hear that inspirational score, the wonderful piece of music composed for the film. It has been played time and time again in countless sport venues when a team is down, telling them it's time to reach inside themselves to push past the fatigue, past the fear to do what seemed impossible and overcome adversity.

We fight Parkinson's every single day, a test of our will, a championship fight for many simply to make it through that day, but we fight that fight. Like Rocky we need to wake up and hear that music, a loud symphony that inspires us. When do you decide that you will hear the music and do what is not easy, but necessary to take control of your life? What is your plan, what is going to make you reach down day in and day out to reject failure and strive to only accept success in anything you do? How do you get up after life knocks you down? You have to want to. The will to fight is borne in each of us. The question is what are you going to do about it? Will you fight for your wife, husband, children, family, friends or simply to let someone else know you are not alone in this, that there are many just like you who refuse to take a knee and be counted out? Ding…ding…life’s bell has rung, come out fighting!

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live.

Taking a Step with Parkinson's

As small children we learned to crawl, stand, and ultimately to walk - a daunting task and a great milestone in our lives. It is an achievement made possible through many attempts and failures. It is our instinct that drives us and it is the encouragement and helping hands of the people who love us that nurture us to our success. The hands that reach out to hold us up have been around us all our lives. They're the hands of our families, our friends, and sometimes of people we don't know.


When we face adversity in our lives, it becomes easy to simply start to focus on ourselves and start to ignore the people around us. We start to withdraw to a secluded shell of fear and uncertainty, not wanting to take those steps into the reaching hands of the people who love us. We stop hearing the words of our friends and family who tell us it’s okay to fall down because no matter how many times it happens, we will pick you up. We will never stop.

Our part just like when we were children is to trust and take that step. For those of us who are battling Parkinson's disease, we can never stop moving forward with our bodies or minds and our hearts to those waiting hands.

 I am Pat Younts and I Move to Live.

Pat Younts Vs. Parkinson's Disease

I've been a bit lax in my blogging. The last couple months have been really busy for my wife and me. We just celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary and have been doing a kitchen remodel. This is a testament to the wonderful marriage we have that we are able to go through this remodel and still stay together.

The thing that has really consumed all of our time has been something that I've been planning since the day of my diagnosis; to start a nonprofit fundraising organization to do my part in the battle against Parkinson's Disease. After several months of filling out paperwork, Pat Younts Vs. Parkinson's Disease, LLC, nonprofit (501c3 pending IRS approval ) was started.

Last year we held the First Annual PY Versus PD Golf Tournament to benefit the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. It was a great success, but we could have have done a lot more if it were not for the restrictions we encountered by not having nonprofit status. My family and I were inspired by the tremendous support we received for our first fundraising attempt and with that came responsibility. As a former gym owner, I promoted many powerlifting and bodybuilding competitions. These were very large and complex productions. My family and I learned what it took to be successful event promoters. The experience and knowledge we have acquired over the years as event promoters will now be used to help battle Parkinson's Disease. We are just a small mom-and-pop fundraiser that wants to see a world without PD. If you are in the northern Virginia area on October 15 and just happen to have golf clubs with you, we would love to have you tee it up with us and take a big swing at curing this disease.   (patyountsvsparkinsonsdisease.com)

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live.             

Parkinson's and a stack of poker chips

As I sat there folding hand after hand hoping that the dealer would favor me with two cards that would at least be playable, I patiently watched and observed the other players at my table, trying to pick up a little bit of information about them that might help me rake in a few more chips. The old saying goes, "You play the player, not the cards", but great cards sure do help. The cards were dealt again. I raised the two corners with my good right hand to reveal once again…nothing. The action came to me and I slid my two cards back to the dealer and continued to observe my table mates. It was a friendly table, lots of pleasant chitchat and everybody seemed to have a decent poker IQ, which makes for a fun afternoon of tournament poker.

I looked around the table at everyone's chip stacks. I noticed the player to the right of me had a silver coin setting on top of his poker chips. The words on the coin read, "Life is Good". It brought an instant smile to my face. Before I could comment on the coin my fellow competitor turned to me and said, "I like your T-shirt! Do you ride?" It was a Harley-Davidson t-shirt one of my friends had given me. I explained to him that I do not ride, but my friend does and she always picks up a shirt for me from different Harley shops around the world. He replied that I must have really great friends. I told him that I've been blessed to have a group of the greatest friends anybody could ask for, a wonderful extended family. We introduced ourselves. My fellow player's name was Tony, Tony from New Jersey. I don't know what the mathematical odds of finding a Tony from New Jersey in Atlantic City are, but I'm guessing pretty good. Tony told me that he use to ride, but doesn't anymore.  I told him how much I liked his chip protector. He replied that he took it everywhere he played poker. It always reminded him not to take the game too seriously, but to have fun and enjoy playing it. He also went on to tell me that 10 years before while riding his motorcycle to the high school where he taught English, he was struck by a driver who was not paying attention. He spent six weeks in a coma, went into cardiac arrest several times, but the doctors kept bringing him back. Tony told me he'd been given a second chance at life, was grateful, and planned to make the most of it.

"Pat, can I show you something else?" He pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and in that notebook were photographs of his family that had been taped to the pages along with the words he had written under each photo of his daughter, son, and his longtime wife and what they mean to him. "Pat, I carry my family everywhere I go. You know sometimes life gives you lemons and all you can do is make lemonade. Pat, tell me do you have kids?" he said his classic New Jersey accent. I told him I did and a wife of 31 years, and as a matter fact we were celebrating our anniversary. "That's wonderful Pat. Family is everything."

Tony was an instantly likable character and we definitely had similar views on life. I told Tony that I fully agreed that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I told Tony that I had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease two years ago and was determined to make the best of it. He noticed my shaking and was going to ask, but didn't want to offend me with the question. I told Tony no offense would have been taken. My shaking has gotten to the point where my disease is quite obvious, plus getting the elephant out of the room and the chance to spread some awareness is always welcome. I told my wife I was a little apprehensive to play in the tournament that day with the fine motor skills it takes to manipulate your chips, pick up your cards, and sitting in close proximity to other players all the while shaking. But like Tony said, all of that is just a bunch of lemons. Getting to sit next to Tony and hearing the stories and his wonderful philosophy on life made for a wonderful glass of lemonade.

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live.

Perspective and Parkinson's Disease

Per-spec-tive: definition; A particular attitude toward or a way regarding something; a point of view. In a recent Washington Post article titled "Having Parkinson's Disease is Nothing to Celebrate" the author Phyllis Richman, a longtime food critic/writer for the Washington Post, writes about suffering from Parkinson's Disease for the last 11 years. In this article Phyllis comments on the Michael J. Fox book, "Lucky Man". She believes Michael feeling that he is a lucky person in life is a bit of a stretch and the book title should have included "As told to Pollyanna". 

I have read many of the comments posted on this article on the Washington Post site (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health/having-parkinsons-disease-is-nothing-to-celebrate/2011/03/16/AFb0HEdF_story.html). Comments range from very critical of Mrs. Richman's comments about Michael J Fox to those who agree with her completely, and some that do not agree, but sympathize with her. In the article, Ms. Richman also points out the great work that Michael J. Fox has done on behalf of the Parkinson's community and the heroic effort put forth through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. I have read many articles, watched many interviews, and read Michael's book, "Always Looking Up". My personal take on his philosophy is that he does not feel that he is lucky for having Parkinson's, but looks to the positive of being able to serve a higher cause, something that seems to have given greater meaning in his life. The diagnosis of Parkinson's or any other disease does not void what you accomplished in your life up to that point or what you do with your life afterwards.

Which side do you take on this argument, "Do you see the glass half full or half empty?" The answer is simple, both. You can't take the side of an argument that really comes down to an individual perspective. Phyllis Richman sees things from the life experiences she has had dealing with this terrible disease. We do not walk in her shoes and none of us can judge how she feels. On the other hand the equal can be said about Michael J. Fox. We have not lived his life. We also do not walk in his shoes and cannot judge how he feels. Those who suffer from this disease only walk the same path, but how we view our individual journey will be different for all of us. I'm still early into this disease.  I know things will become more challenging and who knows if my view may change, but I doubt it. We need to spend each day looking for that silver lining, smelling each and every flower, and giving thanks for all the things we can still enjoy.

The great thing Richman's article has done is prompted debate and discussion about our disease. This catalyst has always been the precursor for people taking action to get something done. I hope this brought the Parkinson's community a little closer together and to all my fellow bloggers who see the class half-full, let's see if we can get it topped off by finding the cure… Cheers!

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live.