15 Love

Google Image search for Robert Kendrick

 

Usually, once a week or so, I like to do a Goggle News search for Parkinson’s Disease. I don’t really know what criteria is used to determine what “hits” will be selected for inclusion in these “top stories” though I’m sure that there are many web developers out there who know the secret and would be wiling to share it with me at their web development seminar for just $239!

It even confounded me when, this past spring, my Modelling Frailty  piece was published in the Globe and Mail and hung around on this list for a few weeks!

What I like is the fact that stories come from all around the world and reflect different cultures or linguistic oddities (though sadly, I’m limited to those of English-origin). Often, the same story will appear from several different press or media and on occasion, the content or presentation will be varied enough to be of interest.

As a whole, the “top stories” list give the reader a decent barometer of what’s making the popular news with respect to Parkinson’s. As someone who blogs about living with PD, this is a valuable currency for me.

Sometimes, though, you find gold.

Recently, this headline caught my attention:

Errant tennis serve toss may be symptom of parkinsonism or Parkinson’s disease  (The Independent 21/11/15)

I was flabbergasted! I re-read it. ” Errant……..that means  like way off..or lousy….lousy serve toss…yeh, same thing…lousy serve…may be symptom of..PD! Lousy tennis serve symptom of PD!”. That’s it!! That explains why I never played tennis very well! All those years of game-set-match with me on the losing end! I have to track down my partners and foes from days of yore and explain my sub-par performance! The ball is back in my court and I’m going to serve up a proverbial ace!

First, I thought, I’d best read the article.

So I did.

Sometimes you find gold. Sometimes it’s called Fool’s Gold.

Turns out the article tells the story of a woman who, at the age of 54, and after a 30+ year career as a tennis instructor, began to lose her touch for the serve. What once the strongest piece of her game arsenal, suddenly had disappeared. You can imagine how devastating this could be. Turns out, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the article goes on to document her struggles to deal with it (you can read her full story here if you are interested). I certainly can empathize with her  situation but, alas, it crushed any hopes of restoring the lustre to my tarnished tennis reputation.

On other occasions, you find a real oddity from an entirely different court. Here’s one from a couple of months ago. I held onto it for a few weeks thinking how might I work that into a blog? I finally concluded that it was not possible. The piece was just too far out there. And then, today, I realized, this blog is where it fit. Right here…I’d toss it in right here! I may be giving it more exposure than it warrants, but I’ll keep it short.

The headline reads:

Man in wheelchair performs solo sex act blames Parkinson’s disease (STV News; 5/10/15)

Now, that just about says it all. You might be interested in knowing more about this unfortunate soul but heed the judge’s words when he said “the evidence against you was overwhelming and there really was no defence to this case…in my view the only appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment.” Tough times to have PD and be seated  in a public place. If you really want to know more, you can read it here but know that reader discretion is advised. In fact, I’d advise you to just move along. Get back in the game. Back on your side of the court.Get ready for my wicked serve! Here it comes…

Love 30!

 

 

A word from our legal department: all images appearing above are legitimate and true representations of images generated by a Google Image search for “Robert Kendrick”. Any similarities to Robert Kendrick the blogger and/or Robert Kendrick the tennis pro, are made entirely at the reader’s personal discretion.The author assumes no responsibility, in whole or in part, for any misjudgements made, in whole or in part. Basically, he assumes no responsiility for anything. And certainly not for posing as some kind of legitimate legal advisor to said author – no misrepresentation, of representation, is herein, represented.