A Friend with Parkinson's
August 27, 2010 3:52 PM   Subscribe

A man I have known for many years and respect and like greatly just let me know in a funny, intelligent and informative email that he has Parkinson's Disease.

After describing the disease, its effect to date on him, and what he knows about possible upcoming medical breakthroughs, he closed by saying, "If you . . know someone who has or had Parkinson's, come talk to me. I'm still a babe in the woods with this disease and am open to receiving (or giving from my meager supply) any information."

So, I'm looking for some readable and worthwhile books for him. I've picked up Michael J. Fox's two well reviewed autobiographical books, Always Looking Up and Lucky Man. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
posted by bearwife to Education (6 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Not books, but these two pages on Stumptuous -- Shaky man in the gym and Shaky man in the gym 2 -- are a great thoughtful, inspiring series of letters from a guy with Parkinson's who started weight training to help manage his symptoms.
posted by dorque at 4:30 PM on August 27, 2010


Response by poster: Yes, suggested articles or stories are great too. Thanks dorgue.
posted by bearwife at 4:33 PM on August 27, 2010


Best answer: The Michael J. Fox foundation website is pretty great, in the off chance that you haven't seen it. Plenty of useful resources and information there. My stepfather was recently diagnosed, and the whole family has found it useful/helpful.
posted by palacewalls at 6:57 PM on August 27, 2010


You might want to look here: http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS274&=&q=parkinson%27s+disease+foundation&aq=6&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=Parkinson%27s&gs_rfai=CbjYLLzh5TIOENZXggwS5y93-BAAAAKoEBU_Qc25w#hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS274&q=parkinson%27s+disease+personal+stories&aq=0&aqi=g3&aql=&oq=parkinson%27s+disease+personal&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=a2538e514206e152

Cut and paste into your browser.
posted by Old Geezer at 9:27 AM on August 28, 2010


Best answer: Whenever I'm looking for books on a new topic I'm interested in, I start by finding one book on Amazon.com and then look at the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section. When I did that for Michael J Fox's book, I found two other memoirs, "A Life Shaken: My Encounter with Parkinson's Disease" and "Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia." I haven't personally read these, but both got good customer reviews. There might be others, but these are the first two I found, and of course there are other non-memoir books as well.

There's also a New Yorker article by Michael Kinsley, in part about his experience with Parkinson's.
posted by daikon at 4:17 PM on August 28, 2010


Here's an article about a doctor who has Parkinson's himself and uses exercises to help slow the progression of the disease. His email is in a sidebar. He's had the disease for 14 years now.

doctor with Parkinson’s disease finds help in exercise — for himself and his patients
posted by at at 8:55 AM on March 19, 2011


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