MY BACK PAGES, A SELF REMINDER. SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FOGET.

HI JOURNAL,
MY BACK PAGES, A SELF REMINDER, SOMETHING TO SHARE.

HI JOURNAL,
 
LOOKING BACK AT MY BACK PAGES.
 
AS PRINTED IN MY LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP'S NEWSLETTER,
 
JULY 2010.
 
 
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART.
 
by STEWART B W.
 
After DBS surgery in October 2009, I was asked by 'she who must be obeyed',       my Parkinson's Nurse Specialist, to give a talk the following February, at a     Saturday morning seminar, describing my experience of the procedure. This was mainly for the benefit of my peers and their carers. So I estimate, that there was      an audience, of about 150 people plus.
The neurosurgeon who performed the procedure, genius and hero that he is to me, MISTER CHRIS LIND, now PROFESSOR, at the,                                                         AUSTRALIAN NEUROMUSCULAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ANRI for short, based here, in my home town of Perth, Western Australia, was to speak first, describing how he did the operation.                                                                                                   How, in league with BRISTOL UNIVERSITY, in England, he had pioneered a way of performing the operation / procedure, with maximum comfort to the patient.             This being, with the patient (being myself) asleep, for the whole of the procedure. Thank goodness for that, says I.
 
Professor Lind spoke for about 50 minutes. It was clearly, as I already knew, going  to be a hard act to follow. Even though I had been asked, coerced, I stop short of saying press ganged, to give a talk of only ten minutes, it was still a tall order for someone of my disposition.
AN INTERESTING POINT. Professor Lind was asked during question time, at the end of his lecture, as to the cost of the whole procedure, and who funded the cost.  
He reported that, his Institute approached the GOVERNMENT for funding, on a yearly basis. Saying that to receive such funding, they had to produce results, and nodding in my direction, said positive ones at that.
Professor Lind reported that the total cost of the procedure, which covers per-procedure tests, together with post procedure and, ongoing tests and research,    to be $A I40,000. One hundred an forty thousand dollars, can you believe it.              The fiscal cost to myself was a big fat ZERO.
Which is just one reason, why I think I live in the best country in the world.
I am fortunate man, a very fortunate man indeed.                                            
Further to that, I ended my talk by saying, that,
"I was now in a position ,where I can say this,                                                  
'That during the time I spent in hospital, for DBS procedure,                                    
I saw, witnessed and experienced,                                                                       
mankind at his brilliant best'." 
You bet I did.
I cannot speak highly enough of Professor Lind and his team.
I think this man is just one down from GOD.   
So being of a shy quiet disposition, public speaking is definitely not my forte, in as much as, I would rather face twenty hostile Zulus, than perform in front of an audience.Well, whether I performed or not, I did appear at the said seminar.
When first asked to do the talk, I went panic stricken with fear, to a good friend of  mine who, just happened to be a member of Toastmasters, a public speaking group, begging him to give me a crash course in public speaking. No worries said he, nothing's a bother, just come along to Toastmasters meetings and see what you think. I did just that and, later I joined up as a member. After attending a few meetings, and picking up a few tips, input and advice, from those more experienced, it came to pass, that I was required to give my first official 'break the ice', speech at Toastmasters.
The topic I choose, was a subject I know most about, namely myself.                   Myself being, where I am at, right now. So behold, dressed appropriately, and not too well rehearsed, I presented myself accordingly, and purposely proceeded, passionately performing a speech, describing how I live with, deal and manage Parkinson's Condition. Nervous as hell, I started by saying that I am traveling with Parkinson's Condition, that the term 'disease', did not sit well with me and, indeed I did not have a disease of any kind.
Further to that, I made it clear that the statement,'those suffering with Parkinson's Disease,' is flawed, pointing out, that I will not be described in such a negative manner.I finished the opening salvo of my speech, with - 'suffice to say, I am traveling with Parkinson's Condition'.
Now that I had the attention of a well meaning critical audience, as well as the appointed evaluator, I went on to describe how I manage and deal with Parkinson's Condition. With a clear emphasis on attitude and, a positive one at that, I erred, by taking up all and more, than the allotted time allowed for my speech.Who cared anyway, by now,  I was in full nervous flow.
It was my 'war cry', that took me over the time. I witnessed the amazed looks as said, 'I've left my war cry, against Parkinson's, till last'. Later in the evening the evaluator went to the lectern, stunning me to the point of embarrassment with her positive analysis. Quoting the Dali Lama she said you knew the rules and you broke them all mentioning that it, was a 'no no,' to put my hands in my pocket, yet acknowledging, I did this to hide or stop any tremors, giving me a pat on the back for it. After that, I received more feedback of a positive nature from fellow members. The best was yet to come, the toastmaster for the evening, asked for a copy of my speech. What a complement.
In conclusion, I have to say, this whole thing is a massive challenge for me, I'm on a steep learning curve. I have had good win with this new venture and, I feel an even bigger win, against Parkinson's Condition, a slap in the face to this impostor. I love it when this happens.
Before giving this speech, I had jokingly said,
'I will deliver a speech, to rival Lincoln's Gettysburg address'.
Well, all I can say is, that it went better than I ever dared to dream.
So in linking the beginning, to the end in true toastmasters style,
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART,
which is - matching and bettering this effort.
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