What's Shakin'


Book Description

It is not impossible to find something humorous about a disease as devastating as Parkinson's. What's Shakin' is not a book about Parkinson's disease, however it is a book about a man who has Parkinson's and the hilarious situations he has fallen into as a result of this disease. The book also has a serious side to it and will offer hope and inspiration to anyone who has had tragedy touch their lives. What's Shakin' is fresh and inspirational. The author's life experiences offer optimism and encouragement to others regardless of what misfortunes they may face.




My Degeneration


Book Description

How does one deal with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease at the age of forty-three? My Degeneration, by former Anchorage Daily News staff cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl, answers the question with humor and passion, recounting the author’s attempt to come to grips with the “malicious whimsy” of this chronic, progressive, and disabling disease. This graphic novel tracks Dunlap-Shohl’s journey through depression, the worsening symptoms of the disease, the juggling of medications and their side effects, the impact on relations with family and community, and the raft of mental and physical changes wrought by the malady. My Degeneration examines the current state of Parkinson’s care, including doctor/patient relations and the repercussions of a disease that, among other things, impairs movement, can rob patients of their ability to speak or write, degrades sufferers’ ability to deal with complexity, and interferes with the sense of balance. Readers learn what it’s like to undergo a dramatic, demanding, and audacious bit of high-tech brain surgery that can mysteriously restore much of a patient’s control over symptoms. But My Degeneration is more than a Parkinson’s memoir. Dunlap-Shohl gives the person newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease the information necessary to cope with it on a day-to-day basis. He chronicles the changes that life with the disease can bring to the way one sees the world and the way one is seen by the wider community. Dunlap-Shohl imparts a realistic basis for hope—hope not only to carry on, but to enjoy a decent quality of life.




A Soft Voice in a Noisy World


Book Description

A compilation of insights, practical tools and inspirational suggestions for improving mind-body connection and empowering healing.




My Toughest Faceoff


Book Description

After being a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1974, Brent Peterson embarked on a successful National Hockey League playing career that lasted 11 seasons. During his career, he played for Detroit, the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Hartford Whalers. When he retired as a player, Brent immediately became an assistant coach with the Whalers before moving back to Portland, Oregon to become the head coach of the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. After leading Portland to the Memorial Cup championship in 1998, Brent wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a head coach in the NHL, so he left Portland and took an assistant coaching position with the expansion Nashville Predators. Brent was later promoted to the position of associate head coach. Soon after that promotion, things took a turn when Brent was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder for which there is no known cure. For a year Brent and his wife Tami kept Brent's diagnosis a secret, even going so far as to borrow the money needed for medications so that they did not have to use Brent's insurance out of fear that the Predators would find out about his condition. When Brent's symptoms became more obvious to the people who were around him every day, he and Tami made the decision to go public with the information that would likely end any chances of a team hiring him to be their head coach. Brent made the news public first by telling the Predators following their elimination from the playoffs in 2004. The team rallied around the affable coach they call Petey. In addition to keeping his position as Nashville's associate head coach, Brent established the Peterson for Parkinson's Foundation in hopes of raising awareness and funding for research. Away from the ice, Brent received some counseling from Michael J. Fox, one of Parkinson's most visible faces. It was that same advice that Brent turned around and gave to former NBA star Brian Grant after he too was diagnosed with the same disease. Like Brent, Grant struggled with the emotional trauma of having been diagnosed with Parkinson's at such a young age. At Brent's urging, Grant established a foundation of his own. Early in the 2010-11 NHL season, Brent's symptoms became more and more difficult to manage. His balance was affected, making it dangerous for both him and the players to be out on the ice together. Following Nashville's elimination from the 2011 playoffs, Poile announced that the team had made the decision that Brent would no longer be a coach. The Predators kept Brent on staff though, creating the position of hockey operations advisor to tap into Brent's years of experience in working with the players. Those same symptoms that made Brent step away from behind the bench were also affecting his quality of life, and the decision was made to undergo the radical medical procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation. DBS is a series of four medical procedures that involve wires being surgically implanted into the brain and then connected to a device inside of the patient's chest. That device sends signals to the brain, and those signals mimic the effects of the chemical dopamine. The results were nearly instantaneous. The morning prior to the system being turned on, Brent needed assistance getting his shoes and socks on before traveling to the hospital. The next day, he was running on a treadmill at the Predators' practice facility. DBS is not a cure for Parkinson's, but it does replicate the effects that medication has on a patient. Brent still has Parkinson's and probably always will. The symptoms will reappear at some point and his condition will likely worsen again, but now he has a renewed outlook on life and a renewed ability to do the things that drive him; being a good husband, father, hockey man, and advocate for Parkinson's patients everywhere.




Counseling Persons with Parkinson's Disease


Book Description

"Counseling Persons with Parkinson's Disease offers a distinctive, practical, philosophically grounded, and person-centered approach to counseling those living with Parkinson's disease and other chronic illnesses. As a seasoned teacher of professional counselors who also lives with Parkinson's, the author demonstrates that chronic illness requires accepting and living with profound loss, but that this loss may lead to personal transformation and constructive ends, wherein one finds new hope, meaning, purpose, happiness, and passion for living. Equal parts memoir and professional resource, this book guides clinicians who give counsel, educators who teach counseling, and anyone wanting to know more about Parkinson's disease and providing support for those who live with it. Parkinson's disease; bereavement; grief, mourning; illness; counseling; task-centered; happiness"--




Lucky Man


Book Description

A funny, highly personal, gorgeously written account of what it's like to be a 30-year-old man who is told he has an 80-year-old's disease. "Life is great. Sometimes, though, you just have to put up with a little more crap." -- Michael J. Fox In September 1998, Michael J. Fox stunned the world by announcing he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease -- a degenerative neurological condition. In fact, he had been secretly fighting it for seven years. The worldwide response was staggering. Fortunately, he had accepted the diagnosis and by the time the public started grieving for him, he had stopped grieving for himself. Now, with the same passion, humor, and energy that Fox has invested in his dozens of performances over the last 18 years, he tells the story of his life, his career, and his campaign to find a cure for Parkinson's. Combining his trademark ironic sensibility and keen sense of the absurd, he recounts his life -- from his childhood in a small town in western Canada to his meteoric rise in film and television which made him a worldwide celebrity. Most importantly however, he writes of the last 10 years, during which--with the unswerving support of his wife, family, and friends -- he has dealt with his illness. He talks about what Parkinson's has given him: the chance to appreciate a wonderful life and career, and the opportunity to help search for a cure and spread public awareness of the disease. He is a very lucky man, indeed. The Michael J. Fox Foundation Michael J. Fox is donating the profits from his book to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which is dedicated to fast-forwarding the cure for Parkinson's disease. The Foundation will move aggressively to identify the most promising research and raise the funds to assure that a cure is found for the millions of people living with this disorder. The Foundation's web site, MichaelJFox.org, carries the latest pertinent information about Parkinson's disease, including: A detailed description of Parkinson's disease How you can help find the cure Public Services Announcements that are aired on network and cable television stations across the country to increase awareness Upcoming related Parkinson's disease events and meetings Updates on recent research and developments




A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future


Book Description

Michael J. Fox abandoned high school to pursue an acting career, but went on to receive honorary degrees from several universities and garner the highest accolades for his acting, as well as for his writing. In his new book, he inspires and motivates graduates to recognize opportunities, maximize their abilities, and roll with the punches--all with his trademark optimism, warmth, and humor. In A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, Michael draws on his own life experiences to make a case that real learning happens when "life goes skidding sideways." He writes of coming to Los Angeles from Canada at age eighteen and attempting to make his way as an actor. Fox offers up a comically skewed take on how, in his own way, he fulfilled the requirements of a college syllabus. He learned Economics as a starving artist; an unexpected turn as a neophyte activist schooled him in Political Science; and his approach to Comparative Literature involved stacking books up against their movie versions. Replete with personal stories and hilarious anecdotes, Michael J. Fox's new book is the perfect gift for graduates.




Parkinson's Disease


Book Description

A guide for Parkinson patients and their caregivers that addresses the body and the spirit.




Carrying the Black Bag


Book Description

""Follows the career and medical practices of Tom Hutton, M.D. as he established himself as a neurologist. Includes patient narratives as they live with Parkinson's disease and comas, also explores Hutton's research on Adolf Hitler's possible Parkinson's disease and its impact on WWII."--Provided by publisher.




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