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Having read the Modern Maturity article, I felt the article seemed to ooze depression and denial. Heck... the PWP can't even bring himself to refer by it's commonly accepted name, but has come up with a coupla dumb nicknames as though THIS somehow downgrades what he has. No matter WHAT he prefers to call it - a "Parkinson's condition" or "Bert," he's STILL *GOT* this steeeeeeenkin' Parkinson's DISEASE. It's time for a "reality check," both for the patient AND for the magazine! PD is PD.. it ain't a "Bert!" Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Jennifer Smith <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, March 05, 1999 6:27 AM Subject: Re: Modern Maturity PD article >Dear Phil, >I felt the same way about the article. My husband read it too and all >he could say was that it was really sad. He enjoyed the article about >Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner a lot more. I think the one about PD did not >do PWP as much good as it could have if it was written in a less abstract >sense. I think articles like this tend to cloud the issue in the minds >of people who are not personally involved in this disease. I also think >that calling it a "condition" is minimizing its devastating effects. Not >everyone can deal with this disease as flippantly as this man does. >Jennifer > >Phil Tompkins wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> Did anyone read the article on PD in the March-April 1999 issue of >> Modern Maturity? The author, D. Keith Mano, is a writer who is also >> a PWP. It's good to be getting still more attention, but I'm not >> quite sure what to make of this particular piece. >> >> Mano calls his PD "Parkinson's condition". He personifies it, >> describing it as an "oafish" cousin who visits, doesn't leave, and >> then becomes a big problem. Mano refuses to get angry; instead he >> decides to give "him" a name -- "Bert", and develops a "reluctant >> fondness" for "him". >> >> Believing that Sinemet has a "honeymoon period" of only 3 to 5 years, >> Mano delayed taking it for about 5 years. During that period he >> developed considerable stiffness and bradykinesia. His attitude >> toward these changes was to initially regard them as a challenge and >> a curiousity. He only became spooked later when he started getting >> emotional (he found this emergence of the "feminine" to be >> "disconcerting") and after a great deal of stiffness had set in, >> resulting in loss of the use of the fingers of his right hand and >> other "very, very bad" symptoms. >> >> Sinemet, of course, worked its wonders, nearly eliminating his >> symptoms. But, he writes, "perversely enough, something in me still >> needs the challenge of my condition..." >> >> I'm not sure whether this article does us a service or not. I find >> the phrase "Parkinson's condition" to be inappropriate. It's not just >> that everyone in the field of medicine calls it by its proper name, >> "Parkinson's disease". To me "Parkinson's condition" tends to >> minimize the illness. Beyond all the considerable discomfort and >> disability we endure, we are 3 to 4 times more likely to die of >> pneumonia* and 6 to 7 times more likely to become demented** >> compared to the general population. >> >> Mano's way of personifying his disease strikes me as like an attempt >> to regard a grizzly bear as a Teddy bear. Perhaps Mano is still >> struggling with denial. >> >> Phil Tompkins >> Hoboken NJ >> age 61/dx 1990 >> >> * Gorell JM, Johnson CC, Rybicki. "Parkinson's disease and its >> comorbid disorders: an analysis of Michigan mortality data, 1970 to >> 1990." Neurology, 1994,Oct;44(10):1865-8. >> >> ** Lang AE, Lozano AM. "Parkinson's disease." NEJM, >> 1998,Oct;339(15):1044-53. >