I’ve got Parkinson’s, and it hurts to even say it. I’m still mobile, still active, I don’t have the trademark tremors that distinguish the famously afflicted Michael J. Fox or the late Muhammad Ali but, damn it, I’ve got it.
Bill Plaschke, LA Times
For many of us, we are in a state of shock after receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis. We hide it for as long as possible. But at some point in time, we go public with it. Yesterday, sports columnist Bill Plaschke did the unthinkable – he went public with his diagnosis in the Sunday LA Times with this terrific column I’m fighting Parkinson’s one punch at a time.
The calls and emails started early yesterday. Did I see what Bill Plashcke wrote? Wasn’t it an amazing column? What can we do to get him involved in our PD Community?
I responded by writing back to Plaschke with the following:
Bill:
Thank you for your column and welcome to the club nobody wants to belong to.
I was diagnosed with Parkisnons in 2009 and have been fighting it — through boxing, ping pong, biking, yoga, tennis, golf and anything and everything else you could think of. Unfortunately we have had a hard time getting Rock Steady Boxing to the westside of LA since the Pandemic. It is a fantastic program and I was glad to read about your experience with it.
Your #1 takeaway — that exercise is more important and more helpful than just about everything else is exactly correct. Keep at it. Then exercise some more. And then some more. In any way you can.
Your #2 takeaway — that Parkies include some awesome people is another bullseye. Nobody “wants” Parkinsons, but I have met some of the finest people I’ve ever met, and become close friends with so many fellow fighters, that I can truly say my life is better for knowing them.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
I have been writing a blog about Parkinsons — https://twitchywoman.com/ — for over 10 years. Check it out for resources and an inside view of the Parky world. I also host a webinar with participants from — literally — around the globe at least once a month (usually on Sundays). If you would like to just watch, or even better, be a guest speaker, we’d love to have you.
Finally, I urge you to consider attending the next WPC — World Parkinson Congress — in Phoenix in May 2026. I’ve been to the last three — Portland (2016), Kyoto (2019) and Barcelona (2023). They are informative, inspirational and perhaps most important, a way to meet fellow Parkies from around the world.
Thanks again for the column. I’d love to talk to you more about what brings us together. I live in Beverly Hills and would love to meet with you sometime to talk. Just let me know.
All the best.
Sharon Krischer (a/k/a Twitchy Woman)
I hope that I will hear from him soon. I would love to have him as a guest on Sunday Mornings with Twitchy Woman and even better, have him join us in Phoenix next year for the WPC. If anyone has a connection to Mr. Plaschke, please let me know.
Medicare Scam Phone Calls
For those of you who still have telephone land lines, are you constantly bombarded with phone calls about medicare programs and genetic testing? What about the ones who insist that their records show that I have diabetes? (I don’t) An email from Medicare last week about scams prompted me to do some of my own research.
I started answering some of these calls, which typically start at 6:00 AM, by asking who they are and can I call them back. Some hung up on me. Others told me to call back on the number my phone says they are calling from. I tell them to give me the number, but they say to call back whatever number my phone says they are calling from. Obviously they did not know where they were calling from. Sometimes the caller ID would say Cedars Sinai or some other known entity, which obviously was false. By noon, I had logged over 30 unwanted phone calls and just 1 legitimate call. Mr. Twitchy suggested that I was making it worse by answering, so I stopped. But the calls kept coming until about 5:00 PM. And the next morning they started again at 6:00 AM.
I tried to report the calls to the FTC, but you have to make a complaint about each one individually. I gave up after entering several complaints. It is sooooo frustrating. The famous “Do not call list” is supposed to filter out these unwanted calls, but it is worthless as far as I am concerned. At this point, I may have to cancel my landline just to get some peace and quiet.
Have you successfully found a way to stop these calls? If so, please share with us so that we can all get some rest.
Have a great week!
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