John,
Would you allow me to forward this post to a member of our local PD
support group? I think they would enjoy Parkinsaw, and also would
benefit from hearing about your promotion of Dr. Tutu's message.
Best,
Kathrynne

john bjork wrote:
>
> View from the Lighter Side Weekly Report
> Parkinsaw, MI
> March 28, 1999
>
> Welcome to Parkinsaw, MI, a certified imaginary community located in
> Michigan's Upper Peninsula, populated largely by individuals stricken by
> Parkinson's Disease.  Stories, locations, situations and characters are
> fictitious and are presented in the belief that laughter, as music of
> the soul, is God's gift to us all, and is good medicine for PD.  The
> Chamber of Commerce is waiting to serve you.  Remember, all weekly
> reports, and there are eight available now, can be found at the web site
> www.mikeauldridge.com/parknsaw.htm
>
> Well, friends and neighbors, it's a fine day to be out in the brush, but
> this little Parky stays home today to finish his report.  Do you know
> what I really dislike about PD in my case?   It's when I awake in the
> morning, I know that's as good as I'm going to feel all day.  A comic
> once said:  "There's no such thing as a good morning, on account of they
> all begin with waking up."  Well, that couldn't be truer than in my
> case.  I must be getting old;  when I was younger I knew it would be a
> bad day when I woke up face down in the driveway.  Another reason why
> mornings are such a shock, is that in the past 20 years I've had PD, the
> disease never, ever has made an appearance in my dreams.  I just don't
> have it when in a dream state.  It does not exist until I awake and then
> there they are: my friends the Tremor-Boys, and their companion buddies,
> Mr. Exhaustion and Mr. Slowness, all of whom stay with me until I fall
> asleep again at night.  How slow am I you ask, I'm so slow that by the
> time I've fixed an iced tea, the ice cubes have melted.  Go figure.
> Well, the Tremor-Boys and their nasty buddies are not going to wipe the
> smile off this Parky's face, even though at times it might resemble a
> grimace.  Shoot! Do you know what stupid maneuver I just pulled?  With
> my mouth full of hot coffee, I suddenly was overcome with an urge to
> cough.  And, as I did, my hand jerked and the coffee went flying.   Now
> my monitor looks like it just completed the last leg of the Baja
> Off-Road race. Darn, I hate it when that happens! Well, we not only
> report the news; we make it as well.  Spilling coffee might be thought
> of as "grounds" for being an idiot.   Time out while I clean this mess
> up, then we'll take a look at the week's happenings around here.  (A new
> PWP product may come out of all this:  The Mess-B-Gone bib, for those
> who consistently spill things.  Stay tuned)
>
> First off, we've been quite busy this week with the planning for World
> Parkinson's Awareness Month, in April.  The Parkinson's Information
> Exchange Network had forwarded a Bulletin prepared by its members
> announcing that South Africa's Desmond M. Tutu was going to help
> Parkinson's Disease Sufferers world-wide by saying a special prayer for
> them during a service to be held on April 11, marking World Parkinson's
> Awareness Month.  Everyone was asked to spread the word by making the
> Bulletin available to the local media,  and we forwarded copies of the
> Bulletin to news editors at newspapers serving the Parkinsaw area, in
> addition to WLUC-TV6 at Marquette.  We all felt pretty good after all
> that work and went directly to the Northern Lights for a Levolager
> brewsky.  For all of you first time visitors to Parkinsaw who may not
> have seen the Bulletin in question, it is conveniently appended to this
> report.
>
> You remember Tom Shelton, our best-known fisherman?  Well, ole Tom has
> placed the final touches on his latest invention that he calls
> Bait-Buddy.  For years Tom has been complaining about the number of
> minnows he's lost while fishing due to his tremor problem.  "No matter
> how I fastened the darn things to the hook, as soon as I put the line
> in, the shaking in my hands would vibrate the minnow right off the
> hook.  I was going through 150 minnows a day. So I invented the
> Bait-Buddy."  The Bait-Buddy is an ingenious device, operated by
> battery, which automatically secures the minnow to the hook, using
> ordinary dental floss.  The importance of using dental floss is not only
> is it easily available everywhere, its odorless and colorless, and
> stronger than steel.  Here's how it works: The dental floss is installed
> in a special indented cavity (unintended pun), and threaded into the
> main minnow compartment. Then, a hook is placed in its slot, the minnow
> placed into the compartment, the minnow is gently secured in place, and
> the box closed.  The button is depressed, and with a whir and a click,
> the minnow is securely wrapped to the hook with the dental floss.  No
> mater how severe the tremor, the minnow stays right on the hook.
> Beautiful!   And, does it catch fish?  You betcha!  Tom plans to set-up
> his business on the Internet and start a PWP Fishing Forum, through
> which he'll market the Bait-Buddy.   He's also thinking of expanding
> that new web site to specialize in products for just PWP, including the
> previously described Shave n' Pooper and Be-The-Doc.
>
> This week we noticed this personal ad in local newspaper:  "WF, 70,
> w/PD,  pleasingly plump, attractive, seeks WM, tall, 60-80, intelligent,
> with pick-up truck and snowmobile.  No chewing tobacco.  Need help
> rolling over in bed.  Loves pizza, bratwurst, watching the Green Bay
> Packers,  K-Mart Blue Light Specials, ice fishing, the new Levolager
> Beer, and listening to Da Yoopers.  Must be at ease with pet pig."
>
> Well, friends and neighbors, it's getting dark here in Parkinsaw, the
> deer are restless and hungry, and, now that I think of it, so am I.
> Tonight, I'm heading over to the Northern Lights microbrewery for a
> bratwurst (low protein) and a couple of Levolagers.  I think the
> Dopaminos are playing tonight, and I understand that prolific bunch has
> a new song parody out: An Ode to Tasmar: "When Your Liver has Gone."
> So, that's it until next time.  Remember not to let PD rob you of God's
> gift of your smile, your laughter and your sense of humor.
>
> John Bjork (60/20)
>
> Here appended is the Bulletin Announcing South Africa's Desmond M. Tutu
> to help Parkinson's Disease Sufferers with a prayer on World Parkinson's
> Awareness Month, April 11, 1999.
>
> ***TUTU TO HELP PARKINSON'S DISEASE SUFFERERS***
>
> South Africa's Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace
> Laureate, Robert W. Woodruff Visiting Professor of Theology, Emory
> University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA has offered to issue a prayer for all
> those worldwide who are suffering from Parkinson's Disease to mark World
>
> Parkinson's Awareness Month in April.
>
> The Archbishop offered to write a prayer for the occasion following a
> telephone conversation and a long emailed letter from Ivan Suzman,
> Portland, Maine,  who has advanced Young Onset Parkinson's. Suzman, a
> disabled anthropologist, (and formerly a leading anti-apartheid
> activist) has become a Parkinson's activist and a member of the
> Parkinson
> Information Exchange Network (PIEN), an internet discussion list,
> notified members of the list of the Archbishop's willingness to "do
> something for those suffering from Parkinson's". Later, Tutu's office
> notified the listowner, Barbara Patterson, another Young Onset"
> Parkinsonian and a secretary at McMaster University School of Nursing,
> Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, that the Archbishop had decided that his
> prayer will be issued through PIEN.  Patterson's internet list has more
> than 1,800 subscribers in 36 countries.
>
> Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a chronic, slowly progressive neurological
> condition that affects a small area of cells in the mid brain known as
> the substantia nigra. Gradual degeneration of these cells causes a
> reduction in a vital chemical known as "dopamine". This decrease in
> dopamine can produce one or more of the classic signs of Parkinson's
> Disease.
>
> Although an estimated 15% of patients are diagnosed before age 50, PD is
>
> generally considered a disease which targets older adults. Parkinson's
> disease affects up to 10%, in some populations, of those persons over
> the age of 60. To date, there is no known prevention or cure for
> Parkinson's
> Disease.
>
> Notable persons with the disease include Pope John Paul II, Muhammad
> Ali American Attorney General, Janet Reno, Gandhi photographer Margaret
> Bourke-White and actor Michael J. Fox.

--
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
Medical nutrition therapy
http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/
    "We are living in a world today where
      lemonade is made from artificial flavors and
      furniture polish is made from real lemons."   --Alfred E. Newman