Don Schwartz's Fundraiser for Parkinson's at Copper Triangle
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!
Why am I doing this you ask?
On February 14th, 2024, she said, “You have symptoms consistent with tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease”.
Momentarily paralyzed by her words and unable to respond to the neurologist, I thought, ...nothing. Wearing an expressionless face with a faraway stare, my mind was slipping into a dark place, as if I had been sucker-punched by the diagnosis.
After regaining awareness, like waking up from a “you have Parkinson’s disease” anesthetic, my first thought was the love I have for my family: Ann, my wife of 42 years, daughters Juliann (36) and Carleigh (34) and our 1st grandchild Camilla (16 months). Thinking of my family brought joy back to my heart, which currently resided somewhere below my navel.
Immediately after that, I thought of my second love, cycling, and my cycling teamates and friends. For instance, the guys I train and race with from Wheels in Motion bike shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My mind raced onward to a different cycling crew, my buddies who travel (from all over the USA) to the Colorado Rockies near Frisco, Vail and Copper Mountain, for at least two weeks each summer, where we enjoy the challenge of climbing mountain passes on our bikes.
While I continued to sit speechless and stared at the neurologist, my stream of consciousness peddled to the Copper Triangle Ride (CTR), which I did unofficially, with my CO buddies just last year for the first time. In a full circle, I thought about the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s (DPF), the organization that is responsible for the CTR.
Finally, before I was able to construct a coherent sentence to present to the neurologist, I made a mental note to sign up for the CTR this year and check out the DPFP website.
“So what’s next” I said, finally. Fabulous, what a wordsmith.
She said, “you’ll need support groups”.
I said, “I don’t think so”. Oh boy, was I naive.
She was gracious and offered more good advice including resources like the DPF.
Later that same day, I checked out the DPF website and realized how ignorant I was. As I learned quickly, support means everything when living with PD. Since then, I have read the 300+ page DPF manual called “Every Victory Counts”, a resource of essential information and inspiration for living well with Parkinson’s.
Serendipitously, for folks like me living with PD, numersous scientific studies have found that exercise may slow disease progression and moderate motor symptoms. At the top of the list of exercise modalities is cycling!!
Luckily, I have only one mild motor symptom, a tremor in my dominant hand (mostly thumb and index finger), which will not prevent me from riding the CTR.
If you see me in Ann Arbor, at a race somewhere or in CO at the CTR, remind me to thank my neurologist for the sage advice she offered, which was “you’ll need support groups”, like the DPF
Your donation to my fundraising page not only will encourage me to train harder, ride faster, but most importantly, will help expand the Davis Phinney Foundation's important work and programming.
Thank you so much, I truly appreciate your support!
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