What Has the Greatest Negative Impact on Your Symptoms?

Stress has by far the greatest impact in my day-to-day management of Parkinson's disease.  So, where possible, I try to eliminate stress causing situations. I don't get angry when driving, slow service at a restaurant doesn't phase me, and long lines to check out at Wegman's are part of life. There is one area of my life that causes the more stress than any other and I'm not sure I can eliminate it: I root for losing sports teams.

It is not the life that I would have picked--it chose me. The three New York based teams I grew up loving (raised on Long Island) and I went on scholarship to the University of Connecticut. To be fair, UConn wins more national championships in five years than some universities do in 100 years (see: Syracuse, Rutgers, St. John's); but the rest of those teams give me tremendous stress and disappointment.

The Islanders have not been relevant since I was a boy and the Knicks are always the worst team money can buy. Then we come to my beloved Mets--here is their performance the past five seasons:

Season	Team	League	W	L	PCT	GB	Place	Attendance
2013	New York Mets	National League	74	88	.457	22.0	3	2,136,655
2012	New York Mets	National League	74	88	.457	24.0	4	2,242,803
2011	New York Mets	National League	77	85	.475	25.0	4	2,352,596
2010	New York Mets	National League	79	83	.488	18.0	4	2,559,738
2009	New York Mets	National League	70	92	.432	23.0	4	3,135,904

What does this have to do with Parkinson's disease? I find that I am more symptomatic when watching these teams, and more to the point, when watching them lose. So what do I do? Do I give up my long-standing loyalty and avoid all sports? Impossible.

This comes back to managing the disease itself. Over time, PD may take some things away from me but it is important to keep doing the things you love and I, unfortunately, really love the New York Mets. So I will continue to tremor when watching the giant hole in the swing of Ike Davis, put up with the rigidity that comes with thinking of Matt Harvey being unable to return to superstar status, and tolerate the general fatigue that washes over me when I hear that they are still paying Bobby Bonilla's contract. This is the price I pay for continuing with my interests that bring me both immense joy and crippling pain.

Now, what is in my control is what teams my daughter will root for--I could brainwash her into loving Duke University and New York Yankees, couldn't I? That, my friends, will never happen.