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.

Mother's Day and Parkinson's Disease

It is that time a year again when sons and daughters celebrate that special person in their lives, their mothers. Moms have a special connection with their children, a bond forged through nine months of living in the same body, the special event coming to fruition finally as the child is born. It is said that "Mother" is the name of God on the lips and hearts of all children. You see this demonstrated many different ways.

At any sporting event when the cameras turn on an athlete, the first thing usually done is a wave of the hand and "Hi, mom." The quickest way to raise the ire of a young man is to simply insult his mom. The tattoo on the arm never says dad, always mom.

My mother and father divorced when I was very young. I was raised by her and my grandmother, essentially having two mother figures in my life. In a way I was doubly blessed. My mom always put myself and my two brothers first, sacrificing so we would never do without, as most moms will do for their children. She made sure that our birthdays and Christmas were special events. We did not have a lot of money, but it always seemed like we did. Every morning when woke up, our clothes were laid out and ready for us to make sure we were dressed nice for school.

I learned to cook from my mom, a fantastic cook who wrote the column in the food section of our local newspaper. My friends always showed up around dinnertime at our house hoping to be invited in for dinner. I recall one day after one of my friends was lucky enough to enjoy one of my mom's home cooked meals, he neglected to say thank you. My mom informed me of this and said if he wanted to be invited back again, he would need to be more courteous. The words "please" and "thank you" were instilled in me a young age.

I also learned to speak fluent Italian from my mother and grandmother as a necessity because my grandmother spoke no English except for a few colorful metaphors that we taught her.

As much as my mom spoiled us, she spoiled her grandchildren even more. Every time my mom would take the kids, I knew I would hear a story about where they ate and what Bebe bought them. Vivi was her nickname, but at my children's young age, they managed to pronounce it Bebe. The name she enjoyed.

I still remember the phone call. Her voice was shaky. I could tell she was holding back tears. "I have cancer." At the young age of 52 my mom passed away, taken away from us too early. I can only imagine if she were still alive today and I would have had to make a phone call to tell her, "Mom, I have Parkinson's Disease." As children whenever we were sick or hurt, we always knew everything would be all right because moms would tell us that it would be. The comfort that our mothers give us is something unique in all the world. Even though my mom is no longer with us, I still get to witness a special bond of motherhood between my wife and our children, and how my mother-in-law is now taking on that role for me.

Many picture angels in the Bible as female characters, but it was pointed out to me that this was a fallacy. I believe that there are no female angels in heaven because they're all here with us -- we just happen to call them mom.

To my mom and grandmother, to my wife and mother-in-law, and to all the moms out there who always tell us it's going be all right,  Happy Mother's Day!

I'm Pat Younts and I Move to Live