My Journey

Welcome to my page. I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease 4 1/2 years ago (just before my 33 birthday). This past year, a group of my friends, family, and I ran in an endurance run to raise funds towards awareness and finding a cure for this neurological disorder. This year, we would love to organize a race soley for this purpose. I will share my story as I try to run, and give you details on how our racing plans are going. Thanks for sharing my journey with me:o)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Need to get to running!

Well, it has been such a long time since I've ran. Last time I went out was on Thanksgiving for the Turkey trot...with a 30 min time...yucky. I went to see a specialist a couple of weeks ago and we are waiting to see if our insurance will approve botox in my foot. With my dystonia, it is making it really difficult to run at all. My toes cramp up and my whole foot turns inward and I end up gimping on the side of my foot. I actually had to have a preexisting pin removed from my foot because it was coming out on its own due to the way I have to run on my foot! Pretty crazy!

But, hopefully I will be able to go out once this weather breaks and get my run on! I'm hoping that if my foot problem gets fixed, I might be able to get back down to somewhat of a decent time. This 30 min 5k times are killing me. I know it isn't awful, but when your used to atleast 5 min faster, it's pretty disheartening. oh well. I will be positive cause I know the Lord is always in control.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Humbling Experience
Yesterday, Oct 17,2009, A team of friends, family and I dressed in Team Parkinson t-shirts, went to the Peninsula at 8 am to run in an endurance run. The objective for us was to run in this event in an effort to raise money for Parkinson's - hoping for a cure! I started a group on facebook for this cause because 4 years ago, I was diagnosed with this dibilitating neurological disorder. I guess you could say my motives may have been alittle selfish, because although I know a cure will be an unbelievable blessing for many, I am one of those who will benefit from it.After running 4 mi I took a small break, and as I was standing by the start/finish I noticed an elderly woman walking with a much younger gentleman. I noticed she has slight shaking, and I noticed her looking at my t-shirt, then up at me. A few minutes later, I ran another lap with my friend Mary. Then awhile after that my husband Matt, on his twelvth lap asked me to run his last one with him when he came back around. As I stood there waiting for him, the same elderly woman was coming to the finish. I watched her holding onto her walking partner, leaning forward as she struggled to get her footing due to the overwhelming tremors in her legs, all too familiar symptoms of Parkinson's. I heard the younger gentleman say to her "Well I guess three is your limit" As I watched her she was staring at me in my t-shirt, I smiled at her and told her she did a great job. She looked at me and said "Well, I haven't been out doing this in years"!I was humbled by this woman. She put what we were doing there in perspective for me. She is at an age where she will probably not see a cure, but she is out there, not in a t-shirt trying to raise money for a cure, but she is out there showing her strength and fighting this disease every step of the way! I will always have the vision of this woman, a hero if you will, embedded in my memory and she will always be an ispiration, My Parkinson's Inspiration!
Our Run