Interview with Pam Milton,
Young Onset Parkinsoian
at the YOPN, Minneapolis 2004
Pam Milton
RC:
Women are less-known to have Parkinson’s. Do you have any numbers or percentages on that?
PM:
I don’t know the percentage but you’re right. There are a lot more men than women.
RC:
Do people act surprised when you tell them you have Parkinson’s?
PM:
Oh yeah. Very. I’ve had it for 19 years.
RC:
And how did you come about knowing you had it?
PM:
When I was pregnant with my first son, I was 22, my right hand started shaking. I went to the neurologist and he said, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. And it took me 15 years to get a diagnosis. It wasn’t until Michael J Fox came out and said he had it. And some people said, y’all are exactly the same age, maybe you have it, too. And they tried me on sinemet and it worked. So I found out in 1999.
RC:
And what was that feeling when you got the diagnosis?
PM:
I was elated at first because I thought, “I know what’s wrong with me”. I’m not crazy. It’s not all in my head. It’s not just nerves. But then it sunk in. What got me was that it’s not just physical. The cognitive stuff is what gets me.
RC:
What have you experienced on the cognitive front?
PM:
The short-term memory loss. Inability to...numbers don’t work any more. Checkbook? Forget about it. Don’t do it. Not being able to find words. Not being able to remember -- oh, I was sitting at my laptop the other day and I couldn’t remember where the phone cord went. I was looking over the whole thing and it just wasn’t there. I had to have someone show me. Just stuff like that.
RC:
So is that frustrating?
PM:
Yeah, it’s frustrating. Sometimes it makes me feel old. I don’t want to feel old. I’m only 42. I’m not ready to feel old yet.
RC:
You said we were living your dream. What do you mean?
PM:
I’ve wanted to go to Yankee Stadium. I’ve wanted to go to Wrigley Field. I’ve wanted to go all over, just visiting different baseball fields. My dad thought I was going to be a boy, so I’ve been watching the Atlanta Braves since I was five years old -- or younger. And they finally got good. They’re finally worth watching which is fantastic. My oldest son played in high school. He played since he was four. And now he doesn’t play any more and I’m like, “I want baseball!” He was a pitcher and he was good. He had a curveball that could make a batter look stupid.
RC:
You’re a proud mama.
PM:
Oh, just a little bit. We used to laugh -- he’d get up on the mound and I’d hide behind the pole because I couldn’t watch him. I’d hide and then I’d look and then I’d get out there and start yelling. He’d look over at me and go, “Shut up, mom!”
(She laughs)
I’ve always told my husband that I want to rent an RV, drive around the country and just go to all the baseball fields.
RC:
Do you think you might do that?
PM:
I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe one day. It would be awesome. But when I heard what y’all are doing I thought, “God! They’re living my dream! I want to do that so bad!”
RC:
What’s great about baseball?
PM:
The fans. The fans are fantastic. The Atlanta fans are great. I’ve watched different events happen for players -- milestones where the fans were so curteous and so appreciative of what they’re watching. I was listening to the radio when Hank Aaron hit 715. It was awesome. It was so cool. I was listening the year before, the last game when he didn’t hit it. You know? It was almost there and he just didn’t quite get it.
It’s...it’s America. I love football. I love college football. Pro football -- eh. But baseball -- baseball is great. My grandmother’s 87 years old. She never misses a Braves game. I mean, we had a family reunion last weekend. She went downstairs. Forgot about everybody, went downstairs and watched the Braves. It’s just great.
RC:
You said baseball is American. What does that mean?
PM:
Aw, come on. Okay, I’ve got some friends here from England. And they’re going to the Twins game on Sunday. And we were talking about it and they said, “We don’t even know what it’s about. We don’t have baseball.”
RC:
Do you think the history of the game is important?
PM:
Oh yeah. I used to work in insurance and we had a customer that would come in and he was really, really old. And everybody would say, he’s older than the first day of baseball. It’s always been there.
My dad used to sell sporting gear. He has a Hank Aaron jersey that Hank Aaron signed. It was going to be mine, until I had two brothers. I have a feeling they’ll get it.
