Over ten years ago, I met a man just a few years older than me, living north of the city and also struggling with Parkinson's Disease. Besides PD, we didn't have a lot in common - Nelson is a former championship weight lifter and an extreme mountain biker. He is also a blues harp player and while I can't play an instrument, I share his passion for music. While distance restricts our get togethers, over the years we have managed to keep in touch, share updates, and lighten each others load from time to time. We even manage to get in a few hotly-contested rounds of golf as weather and health permits! This past year, as I tried to reassert somewhat dormant writing skills through this blog, my friend has taken to writing, and subsequently publishing, a book that documents his struggles against "the darkness" of PD. In its 100+ pages, Nelson recounts the challenges he has faced, the losses he has suffered and the victories he has achieved. Late last month, I went to his book launch and was pleased to see the reception he received and the pride he has in his work. Here is an excerpt from his book Shaking Hands (Titan Press, 2013).
For centuries people have had to deal with the justification for going to war. Some of the premises that man has accepted as validating a decision to enter conflict have been as follows: the presence of an evil force or entity; the threat or act of someone or something denying another his freedom or health and well-being; a threat to another's loved ones; and finally the threat of inflicting physical, mental or emotional harm.
These are the conditions on which we who are confronted by The Darkness exist. Some people passively accept things as they are and continue on as best they can and resign themselves to the outcomes of their situation. I have never been able to accept domination or defeat without kicking, biting and clawing my way out from under the shroud of darkness that can envelop us.
The preconditions for war that we have lived by throughout eternity all exist for those of us attacked by this disease.
Parkinson's is a truly evil entity/force as it ravages your body and slows and dulls your mind. Our freedom, health and well-being are all subjected to takeover by whatever condition it leaves you in. It threatens the bonds that unite loved ones by making you withdraw and abstain from contact with those who care for you, thereby inflicting pain on them.
Finally, physical, mental and emotional degradation are The Darkness's main outcomes, once it infests your body and your mind. So you see we are truly at war within ourselves, from moment to moment, as we try to outlast the onslaught of evil.
We who suffer from this battle have to realize a very important premise: there can be no ultimate victory against evil at the moment. Nothing short of a revolutionary turn in focus around the world toward disease will give us hope. Ponder this: how many diseases have been cured or mostly controlled in the last hundred years? Even better, the last twenty-five years? The reality is that in the last century, we have discovered and produced a vaccine for polio, virtually eliminating this threat, as well as smallpox and diphtheria and nothing else.
We evolve physically and mentally over the generations, so why do we not evolve medically? I believe the answer is simple: the pharamaceutical machine cannot abide by cures for diseases being the focus, as this is basically a one-run game, and then the disease is no more and the pharma giants cease to profit.
I don't believe I am paranoid or delusional thinking that pharmaceutical companies have it in their best interests to be able to produce ongoing, profit-making treatments and not cures. much like the oil cartel, they are vested in ongoing profit and nothing short of a global inversion will change that or keep them from obstructing the search for cures.
Michael J. Fox had the right idea when he started his foundation, aiming for a cure. But even his personally vested good intentions cannot overcome the power of the giants who will not permit a real solution to exist. So I respond to those who might question my premise of 'waging war' with The Darkness.
The Darkness is much more than an individual evil. It is the power of greed and control which, on the big scale, challenges us to adapt, worldly, a new mindset, which in time can overcome the profit objective and seek cures for what ails us. Thus, daily, I wage my own personal war, knowing ultimately I can't win, but resolved to milk each moment for positives to hold back the evil cloud.
Excerpt and cover image reprinted with permission of the author.
If you are interested in ordering a copy of Nelson Sleno's book Shaking Hands, please visit his website at www.shakinghands.ca
