"You're not a victim to your body anymore"

I was inspired as I listened to a man share his story since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. When he got his diagnosis, 10 years ago, he began aggressive long distant biking. In the ten years since his diagnosis, he has managed to control many of the debilitating symptoms. So much so, that a medical team has asked to do further testing to see if this is something that will help people with Parkinson's. They want to know if aggressive exercise will have a different effect on the disease process. During the interview it was evident by some of his movements that the man had Parkinson's, but considering having it for 10 years, it was amazing how good he was. At the end of his interview he said, "I want to inspire others, you are not a victim to your body anymore". 

I think of people with neurological diseases such as MS or Parkinson and wonder how they cope. These are long term diseases that slowly take function away from you. The speed at which this happens is individual. There are people with MS that you would never know they had it, and then there are others that it is very evident. Parkinson's is more obvious because of the visible shaking. 

MS is a disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. The immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers and creates communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body.

Parkinson disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement as well as mental and emotional changes. Cause unknown. The nerve cells in your brain become damaged or begin to die. 

I don't want you to think you have just fallen into a google search you didn't want to be in. I guess my point here is I am rarely ever sick, so I am sure I would feel like a victim if I had something wrong with me. I can't imagine what it must feel like to live every day with pain and exhaustion. It is foreign for me to even think about my body not responding the way it is wired to do. Sadly, I have just described the way many are forced to live every day. 

Autoimmune disease happens when your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues. The list of autoimmune diseases is growing at an incomprehensible rate. For me, the most common ones are lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Type 1 diabetes. Some articles list MS and Fibromyalgia as autoimmune while others don't. I feel cancer fits in this category as it rapidly creates abnormal cells that grow beyond their boundaries. In other words, I think of it as your body turns on itself.  

I am curious why people have their immune systems turn on them, while others don't. Is it possible to turn that around?  Why do some people never get sick, while others are plagued with it. I think for me, building my immune system started when I was a few months old and I was given the BCG vaccine against TB. The BCG has been credited with being the best respiratory vaccine ever. They have never developed a booster, and I was told by a pharmacist that means it is still working. During my working days, Dr. P made his mission in life for the staff at the health center to get the flu shot. I think having the flu shot for probably 35 years has helped my immune system. Also, I had constant exposure to sickness, and I feel that contributed to the building of my strong immune system. I have just described some people that did the same thing as I did, yet they live with a compromised immune system.   

I know no one likes to be sick. Many cope well with it, whereas I don't. I admire how people cope with sickness, it would certainly take some work for me to accept not being able to do what I want to do because of a disease. 

I was so inspired by this man's quote. I thought how empowering for those with Parkinson's to see him and maybe have some hope. This man was basically saying what I believe, take your health into your own hands. You can be handed prescriptions and treatments by professionals, but at the end of the day it is your body. For me, I think I would feel like a victim if I had a diagnosis of a debilitating disease. I know I would be on an insane quest to find something to change that. For those that are afflicted with a disease, or your immune system has turned on you, I truly have no understanding of how that must feel. In my mind, you are a very strong person. At some point you accepted this is the way your life is going to be, and you are living the best you can. That is powerful!