Shakin' Street — A Parkinson's Blog

On a recent Wednesday evening at my Parkinson’s gym, I was dribbling a ball around three cones. At the first cone, my instructions were to call out the name of a breaksfast food.

“Scrambled eggs,” I said. Nailed it.

On to the second cone, where I was to call out a breed of dog.

“Dachsund!”

I dribbled to Cone #3, where we’d been told to name a vegetable.

“Broccoli!”

All was well until I got back to the first cone again. I stood there and bounced the ball three times before coming up with with “pancakes.” At Cone #2, I had “labradoodle” ready to go.

Cone #3 was a problem. I stood there for what felt like ten minutes before “tomato” finally emerged from my lips. Not actually a vegetable, but it was all I had.

While I’ll never make anyone forget Curly Neal, I can bounce a ball. And I can name plenty of breakfast foods, dog breeds, and vegetables.

But bouncing a ball AND naming a vegetable? The system breaks down. Parkinson’s often damages our executive functions like decision-making and multitasking.

My wife can still drive a car, play a podcast and hold a conversation simultaneously. Those days are over for me. And if I’m driving in the rain — even alone — the radio’s off.

For decades, I enjoyed listening to music while reading a book. These days I can listen to music, or read a book. But it’s necessary to pick one at a time.

Blogger Thea Destephano learned about her new limitations the hard way:

My first mishap was early on during my diagnosis. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and was thinking about how I needed to put Voltaren on my knees. Guess what I brushed my teeth with? Luckily it only upset my stomach for an hour or so. Now I put my toothpaste in exactly the same spot and don’t think about anything else but getting my teeth brushed.

My advice? Keep the Preparation H and the Crest in separate rooms.

It’s not all fun, games, and Voltaren, however. As the Parkinson’s Foundation points out, “Parkinson’s can affect focus, making multitasking — already challenging — even trickier. Walking while distracted may lead to falls.”

So while I try to avoid doing more than one thing at a time in the wild, I seek out opportunities to practice multitasking in controlled environments.

My physical therapist recommended that I balance on one foot while brushing my teeth — an activity I can perform with intermittent success. My Rock Steady Boxing classes often have us punching a bag while jogging, or doing jumping jacks while passing a tennis ball from hand to hand.

The hope is that when the real world requires us to multitask we’ll be able to get the job done.

So if one day you see me on a playground dribbling a basketball while shouting “BRUSSELS SPROUTS,” please don’t call the cops.

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Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom — Neil Young Edition

Sit back and enjoy Neil bellowing the dickens out of “Born in the USA.” Yes, the video quality is awful, but you can hear it just fine.

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I initially thought this was some sort of AI-generated digital mashup, but no. Apparently Mr. Young made a movie called “Human Highway” in 1977, and Devo was in it. This clip runs 2:48, but you should know there’s also a 9-minute version of this on YouTube.

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A beautiful cover of a great song.

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And finally, for anyone who’s planning to watch the 2025 Rose Bowl… Go Ducks!