Marci Silverman's ride for Parkinson's
Posted: April 11, 2009 11:44 PM
By Charlie Bartlett -
LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Imagine riding your bike over three-thousand miles across the country just for fun, but what if you were riding for a cure? New York native Marci Silverman is racing her bike from coast to coast to fight Parkinson's disease and raise awareness along the way.
"What I really wanted to do was make a difference. I decided to raise money for the Davis Phinney Foundation which is for Parkinson's disease," said Marci Silverman.
Over the course of fifty-eight days and thirty-one hundred miles, Marci will travel from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida. She decided to make the trip less than two weeks before and ride for Parkinson's; a neurological illness that affects movement and muscle control. Riding across country isn't the hardest part.
"The hardest part is actually keeping the momentum going for the fundraising while I'm on the road," said Silverman.
Marci's got the momentum and she's not riding alone. She's riding with the Bicycle Tour for Women.
"I think it's fantastic. She's trying to raise funds for a good cause," said Sherryl Schussler.
"It's very inspiring and wonderful to see all the causes that are being ridden for and amazing the amount of money can be raised," said Marni Harang.
Marci rides about sixty to seventy miles a day. Some days are harder than others but she's peddling along for Parkinson's, a disease she's very familiar with.
"My grandfather had Parkinson's and I got to see what that did to him. I also have a more recent connection. Two of my boyfriends' uncles both have Parkinson's and they got it when they were much younger," said Silverman.
Riding her bike from sea to sea, Marci hopes to improve the lives of people living with Parkinson's disease.
"To me it's a wonderful thing that I am able to do this. As tough as any day might be, a really hard climb, really cold, really hot or I don't feel like riding, I can do it. There are a lot of people out there with Parkinson's who would love to be able to do this," said Silverman.
With every mile, Marci is making a difference biking for Parkinson's. She hopes to reach her destination by April 30th.
Meanwhile, if you would like to help with Marci's cause and follow her daily progress, log on to her web site.
www.3100miles.com
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Unique New Parkinson's Resource
Unique New Parkinson's Resource, Life With A Battery-Operated Brain, Offers Step-by-Step Patient Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation
Beyond answering the "whys" that arise in considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Hunt Christensen offers her unique perspective in this comprehensive book. LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN is designed to be a highly readable guide for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), exploring the benefits of this particular surgery on many motor symptoms of the disease.
Let's stick wires into someone's brain, run voltage through it, and see what happens!
Deep Brain Stimulation is a process, not an event
I wrote this book as way of giving back to the community
DBS has given me back so much of my life! I want to share what I've learned from my own experience and others' to help inform the decisions being made every day by others looking for those same results.
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 15, 2009 -- What would prompt someone to say "Let's stick wires into someone's brain, run voltage through it, and see what happens!"? So asks activist and author Jackie Hunt Christensen in her important new book, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN: A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson's Disease (Langdon Street Press; April 2009; ISBN 978-1-934938-26-3; $16.95).
Beyond answering the "whys" that arise in considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Hunt Christensen offers her unique perspective in this comprehensive book. LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN (www.lifewithbobbook.com) is designed to be a highly readable guide for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), exploring the benefits of this particular surgery on many motor symptoms of the disease. "Deep Brain Stimulation is a process, not an event," explains Hunt Christensen.
The author has firsthand knowledge of the procedure more commonly referred to as "DBS" and lived with Parkinson's disease for more than seven years before electing to be evaluated for DBS surgery. Ultimately, she was deemed a good candidate for the surgery, and DBS seemed like her only logical option--a choice that has been validated post-surgery, as Christensen now enjoys life with most of her motor symptoms well controlled. Parkinson's disease, the author is quick to point out, does not end, but DBS is meant to be a long-term treatment.
Now Jackie Hunt Christensen offers readers a resource that was previously unavailable: a step-by-step look at her own journey, as well as information on a typical evaluation process, medical statistics, questions to ask neurosurgeons, opinions from other DBS patients, the programming process for DBS, and much more.
"I wrote this book as way of giving back to the community," Hunt Christensen said. "DBS has given me back so much of my life! I want to share what I've learned from my own experience and others' to help inform the decisions being made every day by others looking for those same results."
LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN is a must-read for those who are considering Deep Brain Stimulation--and for those who love them. Health professionals can also benefit from reading the book, as certain diagnostic tools and therapies may not be safe for use on DBS patients or require specific precautions.
Being released by Langdon Street Press today, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN will be available in bookstores and online at Life With a Battery-Operated Brain or Amazon.com.
Jackie Hunt Christensen is also the author of The First Year: Parkinson's Disease, An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed and has published numerous articles and editorials regarding both Parkinson's and environmental issues. In 2006, she won the Milly Kondracke Award for Outstanding Advocacy from the Parkinson's Action Network in Washington, DC.
Jackie, her husband, and two sons ages 17 and 12, reside in Minneapolis.
Beyond answering the "whys" that arise in considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Hunt Christensen offers her unique perspective in this comprehensive book. LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN is designed to be a highly readable guide for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), exploring the benefits of this particular surgery on many motor symptoms of the disease.
Let's stick wires into someone's brain, run voltage through it, and see what happens!
Deep Brain Stimulation is a process, not an event
I wrote this book as way of giving back to the community
DBS has given me back so much of my life! I want to share what I've learned from my own experience and others' to help inform the decisions being made every day by others looking for those same results.
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 15, 2009 -- What would prompt someone to say "Let's stick wires into someone's brain, run voltage through it, and see what happens!"? So asks activist and author Jackie Hunt Christensen in her important new book, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN: A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson's Disease (Langdon Street Press; April 2009; ISBN 978-1-934938-26-3; $16.95).
Beyond answering the "whys" that arise in considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Hunt Christensen offers her unique perspective in this comprehensive book. LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN (www.lifewithbobbook.com) is designed to be a highly readable guide for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), exploring the benefits of this particular surgery on many motor symptoms of the disease. "Deep Brain Stimulation is a process, not an event," explains Hunt Christensen.
The author has firsthand knowledge of the procedure more commonly referred to as "DBS" and lived with Parkinson's disease for more than seven years before electing to be evaluated for DBS surgery. Ultimately, she was deemed a good candidate for the surgery, and DBS seemed like her only logical option--a choice that has been validated post-surgery, as Christensen now enjoys life with most of her motor symptoms well controlled. Parkinson's disease, the author is quick to point out, does not end, but DBS is meant to be a long-term treatment.
Now Jackie Hunt Christensen offers readers a resource that was previously unavailable: a step-by-step look at her own journey, as well as information on a typical evaluation process, medical statistics, questions to ask neurosurgeons, opinions from other DBS patients, the programming process for DBS, and much more.
"I wrote this book as way of giving back to the community," Hunt Christensen said. "DBS has given me back so much of my life! I want to share what I've learned from my own experience and others' to help inform the decisions being made every day by others looking for those same results."
LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN is a must-read for those who are considering Deep Brain Stimulation--and for those who love them. Health professionals can also benefit from reading the book, as certain diagnostic tools and therapies may not be safe for use on DBS patients or require specific precautions.
Being released by Langdon Street Press today, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN will be available in bookstores and online at Life With a Battery-Operated Brain or Amazon.com.
Jackie Hunt Christensen is also the author of The First Year: Parkinson's Disease, An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed and has published numerous articles and editorials regarding both Parkinson's and environmental issues. In 2006, she won the Milly Kondracke Award for Outstanding Advocacy from the Parkinson's Action Network in Washington, DC.
Jackie, her husband, and two sons ages 17 and 12, reside in Minneapolis.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Cross-Country Journey for Parkinson's Research
A Cross-Country Journey for Parkinson's Research
Marci Silverman • Reader Submitted • April 6, 2009
WOMAN CYCLING ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO RAISE MONEY FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH, STOPS IN LAFAYETTE APRIL 12
A New York City woman is on her way across the country by bicycle with a mission: raising $20,000 to fight Parkinson's Disease, and raising awareness along the way.
Marci Silverman begins her 58-day, 3,100-mile odyssey in San Diego on March 6, 2009, and expects to finish in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 30. In that time she will ride across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
She decided to make the trip less than two weeks before, and to fund-raise for Parkinson's, a neurological illness that affects movement and muscle control, to honor friends and family members who have the disease.
"For months, we've seen one bad-news headline after another: the mortgage crisis, banks imploding, unemployment skyrocketing," she said. "I thought it was time to do something positive, something constructive, and in a big way."
Silverman's ride is completely self-funded: 100 percent of the money she raises benefits the Davis Phinney Foundation. Phinney is a former pro cyclist living with the disease.
"Our foundation's mission is to help improve the lives of people living with Parkinson's disease today through research and programs related to quality of life therapies," said Amy Howard, Executive Director of the foundation. "Marci's ride across the United States is a wonderful way to raise both awareness and funding for Parkinson's disease research. We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of such a great event."
Visit Silverman's website, http://www.3100miles.com, to follow her progress daily and to sponsor her ride.
Marci Silverman • Reader Submitted • April 6, 2009
WOMAN CYCLING ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO RAISE MONEY FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH, STOPS IN LAFAYETTE APRIL 12
A New York City woman is on her way across the country by bicycle with a mission: raising $20,000 to fight Parkinson's Disease, and raising awareness along the way.
Marci Silverman begins her 58-day, 3,100-mile odyssey in San Diego on March 6, 2009, and expects to finish in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 30. In that time she will ride across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
She decided to make the trip less than two weeks before, and to fund-raise for Parkinson's, a neurological illness that affects movement and muscle control, to honor friends and family members who have the disease.
"For months, we've seen one bad-news headline after another: the mortgage crisis, banks imploding, unemployment skyrocketing," she said. "I thought it was time to do something positive, something constructive, and in a big way."
Silverman's ride is completely self-funded: 100 percent of the money she raises benefits the Davis Phinney Foundation. Phinney is a former pro cyclist living with the disease.
"Our foundation's mission is to help improve the lives of people living with Parkinson's disease today through research and programs related to quality of life therapies," said Amy Howard, Executive Director of the foundation. "Marci's ride across the United States is a wonderful way to raise both awareness and funding for Parkinson's disease research. We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of such a great event."
Visit Silverman's website, http://www.3100miles.com, to follow her progress daily and to sponsor her ride.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Actor to Speak on Parkinson's Disease
Actor to speak in Toledo of father's fight against disorder: Holly Robinson Peete, husband created foundation in his honor
(Blade, The (Toledo, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 29--Holly Robinson Peete has fond childhood memories of her father, the original Gordon on Sesame Street.
"Your dad could not have a cooler job than going to work with Ernie and Bert," the actress told The Blade with a laugh in a recent phone interview.
Matthew Robinson, Jr., also wrote several episodes of Sanford and Son, and later became a writer and co-producer for The Cosby Show. The Philadelphia native was 46 when he was given a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, a debilitating disorder that shortened his career -- and caused his death at age 65.
"He was an amazing guy who was really sort of cut down in the prime of his life," said Ms. Peete, who has been in several television series, including 21 Jump Street, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, and For Your Love. She added: "Parkinson's disease just came along and just walloped him." Ms. Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, are to be in Toledo on Saturday to be keynote speakers for the 12th annual Parkinson's Disease Symposium. They are to talk about the HollyRod Foundation they started in Mr. Robinson's honor in 1997, five years before his death, to assist people afflicted by the disease.
Discussing the latest advances in treating Parkinson's disease is another focus of the symposium, which is being put on by the University of Toledo's medical school, the former Medical College of Ohio, and the Parkinson Foundation of Northwest Ohio.
Much has changed in the last 10 years with using medication to treat Parkinson's disease, allowing patients to continue working and otherwise go on with their lives, said Dr. Lawrence Elmer, neurologist with the Parkinson's disease and movement disorder program at the former Medical College of Ohio.
"It's just so satisfying for me to know that, even as people get into their 60s, 70s, and 80s, that this is not a life sentence," said Dr. Elmer, who is hosting Saturday's symposium.
Not all doctors are well versed on medications used to treat Parkinson's, Dr. Elmer said. But Dr. Elmer is working with other Parkinson's specialists and organizations nationwide to develop a program to train nurse practitioners and physician assistants so they can spread the knowledge in doctors' offices, he said.
Deep brain stimulation surgery is an option for patients whose Parkinson's cannot be controlled by medication alone, and other procedures are being explored, Dr. Elmer said. New physical therapy and other regimens also have been developed to help people with Parkinson's, he said.
"Their lives really are improving," Dr. Elmer said of Parkinson's patients. "Our goal not only is to improve their lives, but to improve the lives of their spouses, their children, their friends." Ms. Peete said little information was available about Parkinson's disease when her father got his diagnosis in 1982. Using herbs, making dietary changes, and trying other treatments for symptoms were not discussed, the actress said.
HollyRod has raised more than $5 million so far to help people live with Parkinson's, Ms. Peete said. Plus, it has been able to get pharmaceutical companies such as Teva Neuroscience Inc., a sponsor of Saturday's symposium, to give patients samples of medications that typically would cost $500 to $900 a month, she said.
"I find some solace in the fact I was able to really help others," Ms. Peete said.
President Obama's decision to lift the federal ban on embryonic stem cell research gives hope to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease, Ms. Peete said. She said she also draws inspiration from others with Parkinson's disease, including actor Michael J. Fox and legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
"There's something about people with Parkinson's ... They have a real amazing demeanor about them," Ms. Peete said. "When I see the champ, I think of my dad." Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: jmckinnon@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.
To see more of The Blade, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.toledoblade.com.
(Blade, The (Toledo, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 29--Holly Robinson Peete has fond childhood memories of her father, the original Gordon on Sesame Street.
"Your dad could not have a cooler job than going to work with Ernie and Bert," the actress told The Blade with a laugh in a recent phone interview.
Matthew Robinson, Jr., also wrote several episodes of Sanford and Son, and later became a writer and co-producer for The Cosby Show. The Philadelphia native was 46 when he was given a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, a debilitating disorder that shortened his career -- and caused his death at age 65.
"He was an amazing guy who was really sort of cut down in the prime of his life," said Ms. Peete, who has been in several television series, including 21 Jump Street, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, and For Your Love. She added: "Parkinson's disease just came along and just walloped him." Ms. Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, are to be in Toledo on Saturday to be keynote speakers for the 12th annual Parkinson's Disease Symposium. They are to talk about the HollyRod Foundation they started in Mr. Robinson's honor in 1997, five years before his death, to assist people afflicted by the disease.
Discussing the latest advances in treating Parkinson's disease is another focus of the symposium, which is being put on by the University of Toledo's medical school, the former Medical College of Ohio, and the Parkinson Foundation of Northwest Ohio.
Much has changed in the last 10 years with using medication to treat Parkinson's disease, allowing patients to continue working and otherwise go on with their lives, said Dr. Lawrence Elmer, neurologist with the Parkinson's disease and movement disorder program at the former Medical College of Ohio.
"It's just so satisfying for me to know that, even as people get into their 60s, 70s, and 80s, that this is not a life sentence," said Dr. Elmer, who is hosting Saturday's symposium.
Not all doctors are well versed on medications used to treat Parkinson's, Dr. Elmer said. But Dr. Elmer is working with other Parkinson's specialists and organizations nationwide to develop a program to train nurse practitioners and physician assistants so they can spread the knowledge in doctors' offices, he said.
Deep brain stimulation surgery is an option for patients whose Parkinson's cannot be controlled by medication alone, and other procedures are being explored, Dr. Elmer said. New physical therapy and other regimens also have been developed to help people with Parkinson's, he said.
"Their lives really are improving," Dr. Elmer said of Parkinson's patients. "Our goal not only is to improve their lives, but to improve the lives of their spouses, their children, their friends." Ms. Peete said little information was available about Parkinson's disease when her father got his diagnosis in 1982. Using herbs, making dietary changes, and trying other treatments for symptoms were not discussed, the actress said.
HollyRod has raised more than $5 million so far to help people live with Parkinson's, Ms. Peete said. Plus, it has been able to get pharmaceutical companies such as Teva Neuroscience Inc., a sponsor of Saturday's symposium, to give patients samples of medications that typically would cost $500 to $900 a month, she said.
"I find some solace in the fact I was able to really help others," Ms. Peete said.
President Obama's decision to lift the federal ban on embryonic stem cell research gives hope to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease, Ms. Peete said. She said she also draws inspiration from others with Parkinson's disease, including actor Michael J. Fox and legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
"There's something about people with Parkinson's ... They have a real amazing demeanor about them," Ms. Peete said. "When I see the champ, I think of my dad." Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: jmckinnon@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.
To see more of The Blade, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.toledoblade.com.
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