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As usual, Dennis, a well thought out, articulate assessment. We'll all
in this together. No one is more important than any other, some are just
more activist oriented and work the problem more than others.

Darwin Hawkins

> ----------
> From:         Dennis Greene[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, August 05, 1998 12:42 AM
> To:   Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN
> Subject:      Re  I want a cure/reason for PD
>
>
>
> Jacob wrote:
>
> >Indeed, Bob. Most of the responses might have been quite different if
> the
> >writers would have known if they knew how it came about.
> >I will tell them now.
>
>
> I would be very surprised indeed if most of the respondents to Jacob's
> "cure
> NOW!!" posting were not aware of the cause of his Parkinsonism.  He
> has made
> no secret of it and has mentioned it several times in the nearly 2
> years I
> have been a member.  Whilst I applaud the courage shown by his
> openness on
> the subject, I am saddened that anyone feels that he should be treated
> differently because of the way in which he contracted the disease.
> This
> implies that there is some sort of hierarchy involved, some sense in
> which
> some of us are more worthy than others.
>
> This is an easy trap to fall into.  Jacob himself fell into it in his
> own
> original posting which implied that he was more worthy of a cure than
> others
> on the list because he was losing more of his life to PD than those of
> us
> who were diagnosed at a later stage in life.  But how could we measure
> such
> things even if we wanted to?
>
> - Does my idiopathic PD score higher than Jacobs self inflicted carbon
> monoxide poisoning induced PD.  And if it does why do we hold someone
> like
> Christopher Reeves in such high esteem when he too is in the condition
> he is
> because he did something dangerous by his own choice.  (see note
> below)
>
> - Does Jacob's early onset get him more points than my later
> presentation at
> the ripe old age of 37?
>
> - Do my 2 children who were only 7 yrs old and minus 3 months (she was
> born
> 3 months after I was diagnosed ) at the time of my diagnosis and whose
> lives
> have been as much altered as mine, give me bonus points.
>
> - do we allocate  more points for tremor dominated or for bradykinesia
> dominated PD.
>
> - does someone like Ali get more points because PD has robbed him of a
> body
> once tuned to the highest level of fitness and athleticism whilst all
> I lost
> was one that tended to get out of breath at any exercise more
> strenuous than
> turning a hamburger.
>
> I find it hard to believe that anyone seriously believes that some of
> us
> "are more equal than others" (though Jim Finn might possibly make a
> case for
> himself <grin> ).  PD just is.  It doesn't discriminate, and neither
> should
> we.
>
> Dennis
>
> Note on Christopher Reeve: Before anyone leaps to CR's defence, I am
> full of
> admiration for his courage and positiveness in the face of huge
> challenges.
> My point is that he chose to do something which he must have known
> carried a
> risk,  yet no-one is suggesting that his paralysis is somehow inferior
> to
> that of someone paralysed as the result of, for example, an accident
> to a
> bus in which they were a passenger.
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Dennis Greene 48/11
> [log in to unmask]
> http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>