- I DIDN'T ENLIST. I WAS...I WAS DRAFTED.
I WAS TRAINED TO BECOME A COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHER.
NEVER DID SEE COMBAT, FORTUNATELY.
I GOT OUT OF THE NATIONAL GUARD IN '75 OR '76, I THINK,
THEN I STAYED OUT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
I WENT BACK IN AND MADE A FULL-TIME COMMITMENT
IN '89 AS A--WITH THE COUNTERDRUG TASK FORCE.
THE FIRST SIGN OF PARKINSON'S, I BELIEVE,
WAS I STARTED DOING THIS.
I DON'T KNOW WHY.
IN FACT, I IGNORED THAT.
I DIDN'T LET IT BOTHER ME.
- HE DEVELOPED A TREMOR AS HIS FIRST SYMPTOM, AND THAT'S
A HALLMARK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE, IS TREMOR.
IT WAS IN HIS RIGHT HAND.
- I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT MAYBE HE WAS DRINKING TOO MUCH COFFEE
'CAUSE HE ALWAYS HAD THAT SHAKING
AND HE COULD HARDLY STEADY THE COFFEE CUP.
- OVER TIME, HE DEVELOPED MORE SYMPTOMS OF SLOWNESS AND STIFFNESS.
- YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU LEFT THE GYM FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS?
YOU CAME BACK THE FIRST DAY AND YOU WORKED OUT REAL HARD,
AND EVERY MUSCLE IN YOUR BODY IS TOTALLY SORE?
THAT'S THE WAY I LIVE EVERY DAY.
EVERY SINGLE DAY.
- ONE OF THE MEDICATIONS THAT'S A CORNERSTONE
IN TREATING PARKINSON'S IS THIS MEDICATION
CALLED CARBIDOPA LEVODOPA.
AND WHAT IT DOES IS IT ATTEMPTS TO REPLENISH
SOME OF THE DOPAMINE THAT IS IN THE BRAIN.
- WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THE CARBIDOPA LEVODOPA IS
CONTROL THE SYMPTOMS OF THE TREMOR THAT THEY'RE EXPERIENCING,
THE STIFFNESS AND RIGIDITY AND THE BRADYKINESIA.
- THE CARBIDOPA LEVODOPA IS A MIRACLE DRUG TO ME
THAT HELPS ME FUNCTION THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
THOSE TWO LITTLE PILLS
ARE THE ONES THAT KEEP JERRY GOING.
- OVER TIME, HE REQUIRED MORE DOSES DURING THE DAY,
AND AS A CONSEQUENCE, HE'S DEVELOPED SOME DYSKINESIAS.
- DYSKINESIA IS JUST A FANCY TERM FOR ABNORMAL MOVEMENTS.
- AND IT'S KIND OF A WHIRLY-TWIRLY-TYPE MOVEMENT
THAT THE PARKINSON'S PATIENT ISN'T EVEN AWARE OF.
- THE DRUGS AREN'T WORKING THAT WELL TODAY.
- WE OFTEN USE MICHAEL J. FOX AS AN EXAMPLE
BECAUSE HE HAS VERY CLEAR DYSKINESIA,
SO PEOPLE ASSOCIATE WITH HIM AND SO WE TALK ABOUT
THOSE WIGGLY "MICHAEL J. FOX MOVEMENTS." THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
- I FIRST STARTED NOTICING DYSKINESIA ABOUT,
OH, I'D SAY 4 YEARS AGO.
MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, SHE'S A PHYSICAL THERAPIST,
AND SHE TOLD ME ONE DAY, "JERRY, DOES YOUR DYSKINESIA,
DOES IT BOTHER YOU A LOT?"
I SAID, "NO. WHY? CAN YOU TELL?"
"A LITTLE BIT," SHE GOES.
"YOU KNOW, I CAN TELL, I CAN SEE IT, YOU KNOW,
"THE WAY YOU MOVE YOUR HEAD AND THE WAY YOU DO YOUR HANDS,
"THE WAY YOU DO YOUR FEET, YOU KNOW,
AND THE WAY YOU DO THIS, YOU KNOW?"
AND SO I TRIED--
YOU KNOW, SO WHEN JULIE TOLD ME THAT,
I SAID, "GOLLY, I WONDER HOW-- DOES EVERYBODY ELSE NOTICE THAT?
BECAUSE, SEE, I'M NOT AWARE OF THAT."
- I LOOK AT HIM AND I JUST SEE HIM,
NOT THE SHAKING AND THE MOVEMENTS.
- FOR MOST PATIENTS, THEY PREFER TO TAKE THE MEDICATION
BECAUSE IT RELIEVES THEIR PARKINSON'S SYMPTOMS.
IT RELIEVES THE TREMOR, IT RELIEVES THAT STIFFNESS
AND THAT SLOWNESS OF MOVEMENT, AND FOR MOST PATIENTS,
THOSE CONTROLLED SYMPTOMS ARE MORE IMPORTANT
THAN SORT OF SOME EXTRA, INVOLUNTARY, WIGGLY MOVEMENT.
- SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST DON'T NOTICE THAT THEY ARE OCCURRING,
AND SO THEY DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND
WHAT ALL THE WORRY IS ALL ABOUT.
MOST OF THE TIME, DYSKINESIAS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH
THE PEAK OF THE DOSE, SO WHEN THE MEDICATION'S BEEN ABSORBED
AND IT'S AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL THAT IT'S GOING TO BE IS THE MOST COMMONPLACE.
- SO WHAT HAPPENS IS SOMETIMES WE CAN TWEAK YOUR DOSING
OF MEDICATION AND THE SCHEDULING OF MEDICATION WHILE USING
SOMETHING CALLED A PATIENT MOTOR DIARY...
ON OCCASION, AND FOR PATIENTS EXPERIENCING DYSKINESIAS,
WE'LL GIVE THEM A PATIENT MOTOR DIARY,
AND THEY CAN NOTE ON THE DIARY IF THEY'RE ON,
IF THE MEDICATION'S KICKED IN AND THEY SEEM TO BE WORKING;
IF THEY'RE ASLEEP; OR IF THEY'RE ON WITH TROUBLESOME DYSKINESIAS.
AND THEN, THAT WAY, IT GIVES US A BETTER IDEA
SORT OF HOW TO ADJUST THEIR MEDICATION TO MINIMIZE
THE DYSKINESIAS THAT THEY'RE HAVING.
- THE DYSKINESIA IS GOING TO COME AND GO.
I'D RATHER LIVE WITH BOTH, THE DYSKINESIA
AND BE ABLE TO STILL WORK,
WALK AROUND, AND FUNCTION BY MYSELF.
I TOOK A LOT OF ART IN COLLEGE.
WHEN I CAME BACK FROM THE MILITARY, I DECIDED TO--
I SAID, "WELL, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?"
I HAVE A FRIEND DOWN THE STREET THAT SAID, "YOU KNOW WHAT?
YOU CAN--WHY DON'T YOU DO ART?"
I DID ART WORK
WITH PAINT AND BRUSH,
ACRYLICS, ALL KINDS OF ACRYLICS.
I'VE DONE LANDSCAPES, I'VE DONE CARVINGS,
I'VE DONE ALL KINDS OF THINGS.
- I AM JUST PROUD THAT HE HAS SOMETHING THAT,
YOU KNOW, HE CAN JUST FOCUS ON
AND JUST KEEP HIS MIND OFF OF
HIS PROBLEMS OR HIS SICKNESS,
AND HE CAN PRODUCE SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW,
HE WILL LEAVE TO HIS CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
TO ALWAYS CHERISH,
AND FOR MYSELF TO BRAG ON.
HA HA HA!
- THE BENEFITS OF USING A MEDICATION LIKE
CARBIDOPA LEVODOPA OUTWEIGH THE SIDE EFFECTS.
- YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT BOTH. THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT.
THE TRADE-OFF IS, IF I DON'T TAKE MY MEDICATION,
THEN THE DYSKINESIA WILL GO AWAY.
THEN WHERE'S JERRY AT?
I'D BE REALLY DEPENDENT ON THE WHEELCHAIR BECAUSE I COULDN'T WALK.
- SO THE GOAL IS NOT TO TAKE PEOPLE OFF MEDICATION,
TO GET THEM OFF MEDICATION, BUT TO MINIMIZE
THE ON-AND-OFF FLUCTUATIONS THAT THE PATIENT HAS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
- THIS IS GOOD THERAPY. THIS IS LIKE A--
ALSO LIKE A WORK OF ART, YOU KNOW?
- HIS ATTITUDE HAS HELPED HIS PHYSICAL CONDITION 100%.
IT'S WHAT KEEPS HIM GOING.
- NEVER GIVE UP.
AND I'VE HEARD THAT FROM JoANN HARNAR
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
SHE SAID, "NEVER GIVE UP, JERRY.
THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE."