The very first signs of illness were pain in my right shoulder blade and slowness in my right arm. While drying my hair, I had been struck by my lack of strength to swing my wrist. “I have a pinched nerve”, I had deduced and, as I don’t usually rush to the doctor, I waited two months to consult my doctor, then a rheumatologist and a neurologist.
It is not possible: I am 45 years old and I do not tremble!
After the brain MRI, the radiologist reassured me: “There is nothing.” It is therefore completely serene that I saw my neurologist again, 15 days later, for the result of the cerebral scintigraphy. He took it out to show me the dead brain cells, but I couldn’t see the connection to my shoulder blade or where he was coming from, and it annoyed me: “But what is this shoulder pain? ?” “We will get there,” he replied. “Is it okay? Will this pain go away?” , I insisted. And there, after half an hour: “No, Madame, you have Parkinson’s disease.” Tit for tat, I retorted: “But, it’s impossible, one of my aunts had Parkinson’s, she was shaking and she was very old, it can’t be that, I’m 45 and I don’t don’t tremble!” Then I broke down in tears.
It’s not Parkinson who decides, it’s me
My treatment is to take dopamine to compensate for the deficit in the brain. And my neurologist recommended that I invest myself fully in a sport: “For your morale, it’s essential.” I was cycling, rollerblading and swimming, but nothing more. If it was raining, I didn’t step outside, whereas now I run in all weathers. Running had always appealed to me and as soon as I tried I knew I had found “my” sport. I run 16 km twice a week, during the lunch break. I put 1 h 30 each time. For 2 years, the disease has evolved and, at the end of the course, my right foot sometimes has trouble. One day it got stuck, couldn’t order it to lay it flat, it was unresponsive. It scared me, then it passed. Today, he sometimes sideways when I run, which gives me blisters, but no way to give up! It also happens that my toes curl up, as they do almost every morning, because I am very stiff before taking my treatment. When it happens in the middle of a race, I doubt: “Maybe it’s time to stop?” , then I take over. On the contrary, running allows me to stimulate my foot. So, it’s not Parkinson who decides, it’s me!
I forget everything when I run
It’s the only time I free myself from the anguish that constantly grips me. Sometimes, I accelerate on the last kilometers; my pleasure is then immense: “You see, it’s possible, you can do it, your foot doesn’t get stuck every day.” Afterwards, I’m in great shape, even speed, at work, while I have to deal with my arm which stiffens more and more and my writing which sometimes becomes illegible. Running symbolizes my fight against illness. I am not looking to arrive first in competition, but to finish the race. To give up on the way would be dramatic, I would experience it as a failure meaning that the disease prevails, that I couldn’t fight, whereas if I finish the race, even with difficulty, I’m the winner, I keep the control of my body.
That’s why I’m happy to run for theOvercoming Parkinson’s Association of the Grand Est region that I represent, to encourage other patients to take action. I still had to work on myself to accept my limits, because I wanted to obtain the same sporting results as someone who was not sick. From now on, I challenge myself on my own records, without measuring myself against others, and each success is a victory over the disease”.
Read also :
- Transplant stem cells into the brain against Parkinson’s
- Parkinson’s: an AI to diagnose the disease more quickly
- Parkinson’s: received ideas about the disease
