Date: 2015-05-06
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

There always seems to be a Post Script to everything we do in life; probably because there is really no finalized closure, as the outside observer you are left to your own devices to play out the ending or you¢re left just hanging. Life continually goes on and you really don¢t know how the story or adventure really ends and perhaps you will never know. You feel left out. It¢s kind of like the movies of the 60s and 70s where the story just ends leaving you to your own thoughts to make an ending fit. With this thought in mind, I have been asked by a lot of people who followed my adventure ¢what¢s going on?¢ ¢How and what are you doing?¢ So, in answer to these inquiries I provide the following information: First I survived! That is, I did not fall off the mountain much to Erin and my wife¢s relief. It took about a week and a half for my walking gait to come back into some relative order where I was not dragging or plopping down my right foot. Regrettably my right arm no longer swings as I ambulate; it actually started to swing after about 2 weeks into my sojourn.In the second week after my return I received an e-mail from my neurologist welcoming me home safely and thanking me for all I had done, shining a light on Parkinson¢s and what a progressively devastating disease it really is. But, more importantly, he offered to fit me in for a check-up. I did go and see him and he felt that yes the disease had progressed a little but he felt and I also believe that it has not progressed or advanced as it could have had I just sat around and let grass grow under my feet. My former employer, from which I retired, University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, reached out to me and asked if I wanted them to still promote my fundraising efforts for Parkinson¢s Research. I told them that I did and so they continued an all out effort in support of this endeavor. What can you say about an organization that continues to support you when the chips are down. They truly stand up to the mission: To Heal, To Teach, To Discover. I am proud to say I worked for that organization! Thank you UH.Thanks to all of you who followed me and told your friends, acquaintances and relatives about my story we have raised over $10,000.000 for Parkinson¢s Research!! Then there has been the outpouring of support and genuine concern for my wellbeing that has been overwhelming and very eye opening. You see, in the Army I was essentially a trained professional cynic; never trusting anyone unless I could verify them or the information they were providing with two unrelated sources; in short, I was in Military Intelligence; yah, okay, I know ¢oxymoron!¢ Anyway, I trusted no one. I always looked a bit scantily at anyone and I did this for about 25 years. But when the words of support, accolades, and admiration, came pouring in after I left the trail, all I could do was just sit there and cry as I read the notes and postings. My whole life I had sorely misjudged people. To be sure there are truly bad guys out there but they are overwhelming outnumbered by the good guys and I am grateful to say I have met a vast sea of just plain good people. For that I thank you one and all. I recently discovered by that I mean just this last week that my Grandmother¢s mother had Parkinson¢s and my Grandmother¢s sister also had Parkinson¢s. I know that my Great Grandmother lived well into her 90s and that my Grandmother lived well into her 100s. Most people don¢t realize that one does not die from Parkinson¢s but rather with Parkinson¢s. Then I found out that a close relative has what is called Lewy Body Dementia and he was diagnosed with it several years ago. From what I have been reading it is in the Parkinson¢s family with tremors, muscle stiffness and the characteristic Parkinson¢s shuffle. However, it is second only to Alzheimer's with the neurological consequences of dementia.As for the future I have started writing a book / journal of my adventure. I would like to sell it for around $15.00 with all the proceeds / profits (less the publishers take) to go for Parkinson¢s Research through University Hospitals. I will be tearing apart our 1970s Harvest Gold kitchen and replacing it with a Tuscany Yellow Kitchen. I keep telling my wife that: ¢Yellow by any other name is still Yellow!¢ She never listens... I have also started the enrollment process to take advantage of my GI Bill. I plan on studying and earning a degree in economics. Yes, I know, it¢s like watching grass grow, what can I say? Perhaps, I may continue on for a master¢s and then just maybe a PhD. I hope to throw in some piano lessons, photography and art classes as well. Then there is the adventure of travel which my wife and I intend to do. I also intend to remain active with fundraising in some capacity for Parkinson¢s Research. And of course I am and will remain active with CrossFit at least 5 days a week. With the CrossFit trainers I want to work out a routine of CrossFit specifically for those with Parkinson¢s.Finally, I am not quite sure how to do this but I hope to set up some type of blogging / information page(s) that will provide information and support for those with Parkinson¢s. That should keep me out of my wife¢s hair for a while. Jim McKay of ABC¢s Wide World of Sports got it all wrong: It¢s not: ¢...the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat!¢ It is all about the journey!