Columns

I will never hear his voice again. That was the first thing that went through my mind when my dad told me my brother had died unexpectedly. I now find myself missing my brother like crazy.  In desperation and amid the grief, I try to recall moments filled…

A few nights ago, Dad and I were watching an episode of “Star Trek” when he decided it was time for a bowl of ice cream. He doesn’t like to take his medications in the evening because the side effects affect…

The symbiotic conductor/exercise training, which centers on a mental construct for shifting perspective that I’ve described in previous columns, helps me to live better with Parkinson’s. Putting it in place as an early intervention (unknowingly on my part) was a crucial piece of this successful outcome. If we…

In the beginning, God created man. And man wasn’t altogether too happy about it. So, God created woman, and man was quite pleased. We were made for fellowship with one another. We were not meant to be or to live alone. There is a reality TV show called “Alone,”…

In previous columns, I have discussed using the conductor (in particular, the resting mind state) to suppress faulty input from the second dopamine center, thus reducing the effects of Parkinson’s symptoms. Is there any evidence to support this besides my ramblings? The first piece of evidence is my own…

Several years ago, I read an article about a man with Parkinson’s disease who was arrested by police in Surrey, England due to a misunderstanding surrounding his condition.  He was sitting on a wall near a street and watching Olympic cyclists approach. Before he knew it, he was…

A friend of mine sent me an article about a self-funded clinical trial using stem cells to treat a patient named George Lopez, who has Parkinson’s. I was intrigued. For many, myself included, the term “stem cells” meant only embryonic stem cells and evoked controversy. I had numerous questions,…

I have written about “the conductor,” a mental construct useful for shifting perspective. The conductor likely has major neural components in a network of areas in the brain: the default mode network, the salience network, and the executive network. In this column, I will focus on the default mode…

I was helping my 86-year-old neighbor get dressed. After getting her shirt on, we grabbed her medications, and a sheriff, who was in the house with us, grabbed her shoes. I held her arm as we shuffled down the ramp together to where my husband was in the car. …

The idea for the title of my column, “Possibilities with Parkinson’s,” arose from my attempts to understand what was happening to me. Because I do not display the dramatic motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but have many of the non-motor symptoms, I seek out research that can help explain…