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Hope heals! Finished the book last night (it's not that many pages). As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the first half of the book was a story about the author--his many feats and ventures that gave him the impetus to overcome the illness. The last half dealt with his protocol, but in a cursory fashion, with a lot of promotion for the sprays he created and sells. I would like to see a bit more detail regarding his protocol, and some explanation of information on his web site, which is also somewhat cursory and filled with conflicting information.

Some of what he does makes sense--the exercise program, the spiritual activities and attitudes, and his positive outlook. He does take the drug, Sinemet, and it's not clear if the sprays really do anything since he's taking the medication--could be just the medication. He indicates that the sprays work with the medication, supporting what it does or does not do. Be fairly easy to do some clinical studies and document the results one way or the other. He has a nutraceutical company--they could do the studies--but there's little mention of that happening. The parent company has no web site.

Another book I got, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PD, is a comprehensive look at a holistic approach to dealing with the illness. It has a good section on alternative resources and another on diet and nutrition. It mentions the PDRecovery Project in the alternative section, which made me feel good--I'm doing that! (FSR, Yin Tuina, and so forth!)

I'm waiting on the book from the guy in Australia. I'm curious to see what he says about his protocol and regimens. Each person who's recovered has done it in his/her own way. I'm gathering ideas at this stage and may or may not try everything they've done (for example the sprays), but will pick and choose (for example, exercise) ones to experiment around.

In all that I've read so far, recovery (from any illness) takes time and is an ongoing activity--a change of lifestyle that has to be maintained. I'm finally starting to understand this outlook and am beginning to wrestle with what it means for me as I go forward. And it is so!