Sunnies off the dock

 I grew up in a lower middle-class family in a small town in southern Minnesota.  Our summer vacations didn't involve airports or travel to expensive locations.  Instead, most summers our vacation started with a long car ride to a resort near Pine River MN. 

The resort was on a lake that my father's cousin Elmer had moved to in the 1950s and built 12 cabins and a campground on. It was not large enough to have huge walleyes, or trophy Muskies.  Our goal was usually to find a school of Crappies.  Early evening was usually the best time for that.  The rest of the day was full of board games, playing with the campground dogs, or trying to coax the chipmunk out from underneath the stoop to fill his cheek pouches with peanuts.  We were even lucky enough to coax a quarter from mom or grandma so we could buy an ice cream treat from Elmer occasionally.  By bedtime, we were usually sleepy enough that the loons crying in the distance didn't keep us awake for long. 

The cabins were simple.  There was no television or radio, other than the very simple radio we brought with us.  The cabins were not well insulated.   Our air conditioning consisted of open windows with a box fan.  And if you didn't bring it with you had to do without.  We found that out the hard way one morning as my mom and grandma realized that they forgot to bring along syrup for the pancakes that were just coming off the griddle. Grandma to the rescue - she convinced us to spread butter on them and top them off with a little sugar.  After that vacation, butter and sprinkled sugar were our preferred pancake toppings for at least a year.  We called them grandma's pancakes.  To me and my siblings, this simple destination was the location of many fond memories.

One of our favorite activities during the day was heading down to the dock along the lake edge.  The water was clear enough that you could lay on the dock and see to the bottom.  It wasn't very deep, but it was full of small sunfish, bluegills, and an occasional pumpkinseed or crappy.  It was possible to take the end of your fishing pole and extend the hook and worm right in front of the fish you wanted to catch. What looked like a trophy under the surface of the water was usually quite small out of the water.  But you could spend hours catching the same fishes over and over. This simple activity of catching "Sunnies off the dock" is still one of my favorite childhood memories.

As a man now in my mid fifties who has been fighting Parkinsons disease since the age of 45, I am holding on to this memory.  Cognitive issues tend to cloud the memories of PD patients.  Even more than the memories of catching sunnies off the dock, I hope to remember the closeness and joy that this now simple vacation brought to me and my siblings.

When Parkinsons eventually wins the battle I am fighting against it, I don't need anything too fancy for my eternal destination.  A simple lake cabin with the loons serenading me to sleep, followed by grandma's pancakes for breakfast.  Then maybe a few hours each afternoon to catch some Sunnies off the dock. 

You don't lose when you get knocked down.

 There is a saying in boxing that you don't lose when you get knocked down.  You lose when you don't get back up.  I find this saying to be very appropriate to describe my ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease.  Parkinson's is relentless.  It is going to keep on progressing and trying to knock me down.   When I was first diagnosed in October of 2015, it felt like a punch to the gut.  So I started a rigorous 2 hrs / day exercise regimen. I felt better than I had in years and made changes to my life so that I could continue to live it as fully as possible. I got back up after the gut punch.

I may have pushed it a little too hard, as I ended up with a herniated disc in my low back in 2018, and had surgery on it in January 2019.  I had to slow down while I recovered and got completely out of shape.  All the gains I made in the past couple of years had been lost.  Laying around and being inactive is the worst thing you can do when you have Parkinsons.  I not only got out of shape, my Parkinsons got worse.

During one of my scans for my back surgery, it was noticed that my gall bladder was full of stones.  So just when I was starting to recover from my back surgery, I ended up having my gall bladder removed.  This extended my recovery time and made it necessary to spend far more time being sedentary.  Parkinson's had definitely knocked me down again.

As I was starting to get back up from surgery recovery, the world went into lock down due to Covid.  My gym was closed and I was unable to do the workouts I needed to do to get back in shape.  I am not good at working out at home.  Some people like it.  I do not and find that I do not maintain a regular workout schedule unless I go to the gym.

Parkinson's and life knocked me down and tried to keep me down.  But it's 2022, and I have now gotten back up.  I have been doing a better job of maintaining my workout schedule.  I am still not close to being in as good of shape as I was before my back injury.  But I am back up and swinging, getting ready for my C4 Workout Challenge.

Many of you reading this are aware that I host an annual workout fundraiser for the Iowa chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association, my C4 workout.  The first 2 years - 2016 and 2017, it was 4 hours long featuring the 4 workouts that I do on a regular basis - Dance, Strength training, Kickboxing, and Yoga.  In 2017 and 2018 it was 90 minutes long with each of the 4 workouts being 20 minutes long and a 10 minute intermission.  After 2 years of not having it due to COVID, I am having it again this year with the full 4 hour format returning.   It will be held on December 17th at the Lifetime Athletic Club in Urbandale.  See the sign up link for more information.

I have been knocked down.  But I have gotten back up.  I challenge all of you to come and try to keep up with me for a four hour workout and instead of getting knocked down, lets all knock out Parkinson's disease together.

https://apdaiowa.salsalabs.org/c4workoutforparkinsons0/index.html

5279 feet from Victory

 Many people dealing with Parkinson's may feel that they are "fighting a losing battle."  As symptoms progress, medicine dosages increase, and quality of life degrades, that seems to be the reality.  How do you decide if fighting any battle is worth it, and how would you know whether the outcome will result in a loss on your part?   If you decide that you are going to lose before you have reached the end, chances are that you will.

I think the saying that applies to my battle with Parkinson's is, "If you give them an inch, they will take a mile."   Parkinson's will beat you and take that mile if you let it do so.  So don't let it.  Don't give it an inch and don't give it a mile.  There are 5280 feet in a mile.  Take back some of those feet from Parkinson's, even if it is just one.  Victory lies in the battle itself. 

Exercise is clinically proven to slow the progression of Parkinson's.  Neuroplasticity is a medical term that means you can train your brain to reroute messages to your muscles and slow the progression of the disconnect between the brain and the body.  The more you exercise the more your brain will adapt.  Also, there is a medicine currently in development that promises to stop the progression of the disease.  I want to be as close to victory as possible once that becomes available.

You have a chance to beat Parkinson's and take back part of that mile.  Join me on December 14th this year for my 4th annual C4 workout to beat Parkinson's.  Let's fight together, and at the end of the workout we can stand side by side, only 5279 feet from Victory!

Challenges, Obstacles, and Determination

Challenges, Obstacles, and Determination

The sight of these long, curved stairs great me each weekday morning about 5:00AM.  I traverse them on my way to the second floor of my local Lifetime Athletic Club.  Each time I am reminded of the fact that for many people with Parkinson’s, these are an OBSTACLE that sends them looking for the elevator around the corner.

Once I get to the top and into my exercise, I have often thought about the many CHALLENGES that Parkinson’s has given me.  A short list is muscle rigidity, fatigue, lack of arm swing, left side limp, lack of smell, and facial masking.  Climbing steps is not yet a CHALLENGE for me.  But I am aware that one day they may be a CHALLENGE.  As I progress in my fight that CHALLENGE may become an OBSTACLE.

Having Parkinson’s has given me a unique perspective, and challenged me to think a bit deeper about things.  What is a CHALLENGE?  What is an OBSTACLE?  How are they the same?  Or different?  Dictionary.com defines a CHALLENGE as, "something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc."  It defines an OBSTACLE as, "something that obstructs or hinders progress."

You could say that for people with Parkinson’s, the stairs call them to a special level of effort so that they don’t fall and injure themselves.  Once they reach a certain point it will hinder their progress enough that they will need to choose the elevator.  Although I can still walk up them just fine, I know that there is likely a day in my future where the elevator will need to be my route to the second floor.  Parkinson’s gradually kills the Dopamine producing cells in my Brain until I will lack the balance, agility, and coordination to climb them safely.  At that point, the elevator will be my chosen route.

How will I know when this CHALLENGE becomes an OBSTACLE?  In my current situation, climbing the stairs is not even a CHALLENGE.  So, I choose to make it one.  Each morning at 5:00AM you will see me not only walking up those steps, but charging up them two at a time, fists pumping and arms swinging defiantly.  I do this for a few reasons.  I do it to honor many of my friends with Parkinson’s who can no longer climb them.  I do it to get my workout started a bit early and get my body moving.  And, I do it to look Parkinson’s square in the eye and defy it to try and slow me down.  I say a phrase under my breath, repeated twice, once for each flight of steps.  “F-U Parkinson’s you woosie little disease. You’ve got nothing!”

Dictionary.com defines DETERMINATION as “the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.”  How does this factor into the current discussion of CHALLENGES and OBSTACLES?  I believe that too often, people accept OBSTACLES into their lives when a different level of DETERMINATION could lead them to a different decision.  This applies to people with or without Parkinson’s.  I do not want to suggest that a lot of people with Parkinson’s should start tossing their canes aside and follow me up the stairs two at a time.  But sometimes, all it takes to change an OBSTACLE into a CHALLENGE is simply deciding that these stairs are not going to stop me.  It may be a significant CHALLENGE to overcome.  Your challenge may be Parkinson's, or something completely different.

I am reminded of the great Muhammad Ali when he said, “I have Parkinson’s Disease, but Parkinson’s disease doesn’t have me.”

I vow that in my struggles, the difference between my CHALLENGES and OBSTACLES will not be decided by a lack of DETERMINATION.  I invite you to defy your challenges to stop you.  Join me December 8th and together we'll take it two steps at a time.

https://apdaiowa.salsalabs.org/C4WorkoutforParkinsons

My Handsaw

Everyone has a family history by which they cannot help but be influenced.  I am no different.  My father a number of years ago started talking to his aunt, my great Aunt Betty, about our genealogy.  Betty had been doing research and had history going back a number of generations.  I have always been curious, but never enough to research it myself.  Instead, I prefer to be inspired by the story of my family, as told to me by my family.  I am also incredibly fortunate to have an object that I inherited to assist me in understanding it better, my handsaw.

After my paternal grandfather, Robert, died in 1994, my dad inherited a number of his tools.  Among them were a number that he inherited from his father, John Haas.  John Haas was the first Haas born in the United States.  His father, my great-great grandfather, emmigrated from Germany to settle near Guttenberg, Iowa.  As a young man, John moved from the Guttenberg Iowa area, to Southern Minnesota, near Sleepy Eye, MN, where I grew up.

John Haas made the move from Iowa to Minnesota in a wagon with two sets of tools, a set of knives for butchering livestock, and a set of woodworking tools to construct barns.  My handsaw, the handsaw that I inherited, came in that wagon from Iowa to Southern Minnesota.  In 2011, it made it's way back to Iowa when I moved  here with my family.  It was involved in the construction of barns between Eastern Iowa and Southern Minnesota and many other projects over the years.  It is etched "Pat. Pending June 23rd, 1874" on its blade, made by Henry Disston and Sons of Philadelphia.  Before any tool collectors get any funny ideas, let me assure you it is not for sale.

Throughout my early teenage years, I worked hard on general farm labor, later at the grocery store in Sleepy Eye.  I remember getting a raise at the grocery store that was a pretty healthy increase, like a quarter an hour.  The store manager put the idea in my mind about staying on after graduation and continuing to work for him.  I was never content with it, knowing that I wanted more.

I diverged quite a bit from the path that most of my family has taken.  Most of my family are very hardworking blue collar types.  I have a Masters degree in Engineering from the University of Minnesota.  Education through high school was strongly supported, but after that, college wasn't looked upon as necessarily a good thing.  It was expensive, and people with college degrees lacked common sense.  We were encouraged to continue with some education after high school, but learning a trade at a vocational school was more along the lines of what was expected.  An advanced degree in engineering was a foreign concept.

Although as a structural engineer, I have a career that doesn't require much physical labor, I still do most of my house remodeling tasks myself.  My career does give me a better than average knowledge base to draw from, so it is not completely unrelated.  I am around construction plans every day.  I was a do-it yourselfer before that was cool enough to have its own cable channel.  I use my handsaw at least once on every project possible.  Most recently, I used it to cut 2x4's that I am using to form the foundation for steps that I am making for a patio project outside my kitchen sliding door.  The history of the object that I hold as I do it never escapes me.  And that saw cuts better than any other handsaw that I have purchased.  Maybe it is because they made saws better in the 1800s.  I like to think that it has to do with a little extra effort being put forth by my great-grandfather.  I think he is pushing the saw as much as I am, its teeth removing the wood stroke after stroke under the influence of his muscle power as much as mine.

When I moved to Iowa in 2011, I was 41.  I told my wife that when I turned 82, I would be 1/2 Iowan.  I came to Iowa for work, changing my career focus from working on buildings in large cities, to work on projects in rural areas, many of them in the agricultural industry, amazingly similar to my great grandfather more than 100 years earlier.  As much as I like my career behind a desk, each time I use that saw to cut through a piece of wood, I am reminded how much satisfaction I get from a good days worth of hard labor.

I have done a lot of introspection over the last couple of years.  Having a serious disease like Parkinson's tends to bring that out of you.  My handsaw not only tells a lot about my family, it reveals how much I am influenced by them and their history.  I always thought I was a big city kid, not quite fitting in with Iowa.  It turns out that this is where we started.  I always thought I was so different from my family still living in Minnesota.  It turns out that I was wrong about my family and Iowa.  I am already 100% Iowan, and very comfortable being descended from hardworking folks who get satisfaction from physical labor.  My handsaw proves it to me.

Craig's 4 Part 4 Hour workout to Beat Parkinson's