The thin line

Time for a rant.

Let me explain a couple of things before continuing the story of how I found out I have Parkinson’s. Everyone diagnosed with PD has a story. What I hope to show is that diagnosis of PD is never a direct, simple and easy test or process. It's not a straight line. I was frustrated because my first neurologist did not act responsibly. (There is one in every group and I found her.) This lead me down a path that was longer, scarier and more complicated than necessary. Contributing to this was a set of symptoms that pointed to more serious illnesses or diseases, hence the MRI’s and ALS tests and scans. The point I want to make is be very careful in selecting your doctor (I was not.). If you are not getting the attention and support you deserve from your doctor, move on. If he or she is not recommending exercise as part of your therapy, ask your doctor to do some research on the subject. Then find someone who already recommends exercise and fire your last doctor.

Now, getting back to the last post where I had just read that the patient had tested positive for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

The conclusion that the patient, who I was sure was me, had tested positive for ALS was not just a brief sentence. I watched my doctor type a couple of paragraphs with readings that he analyzed and must have been bad. But I had a couple of minutes to digest the news before the doctor noticed what I was doing. He quickly said “Oh, that is not you. That was the last patient. He wasn’t so lucky. You don’t have it.”

I think of that last patient often because, for a brief moment in time, I was that patient.  It’s hard to describe this feeling.  I sometimes think that the patient the doctor was writing about really was me, and then something changed course. I was given another chance. I think this has helped me  realize that there is a very thin line between life and that other thing. I never take anything for granted. I am lucky to have Parkinson’s disease. I will never complain.

Sunset at Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Photo is a sunset at Cold Spring Harbor, NY. More at NYUrbanimages.com and  Instagram  #lakecharg