Dwayne Mandrusiak diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
via Terry Jones:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/11/2...insons-disease
TORONTO - The longest-serving member of the Edmonton Eskimos organization, a man who has been with his team at 17 Grey Cups and has 10 Grey Cup rings, came here without his team and for a very different reason this year.
Dwayne Mandrusiak, the Eskimos equipment man of 42 seasons, came here to begin letting out the news and to find support with people like Warren Moon, Matt Dunigan and so many others he has known and met in football who are here to celebrate the 100th Grey Cup.
The news is that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
“I was diagnosed in August,” he said.
“In the last couple of years I was starting to hear a lot of people say ‘Are you OK?’ and ‘Did you have a stroke?’ and I’m looking at them saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ It wasn’t recognizable to me. Or if it was I was in some form of denial.
“The left side of my body was kind of closing down. If I took a step on my right foot, there would be a little delay with my left foot.”
Mandrusiak didn’t go to a doctor. The team doctors came to him.
“They approached me and said ‘We want you to get some tests. We’re a little concerned how stiff you are.’ ”
He said Dr. Boris Boyko of the Eskimos staff sent him to a neurosurgeon.
“The neurosurgeon said he wanted to watch me walk down the hall. I walked 10 feet and he said ‘I know what you’ve got. Do you want me to sugar coat it or say what you’ve got?’
“I said just tell me.
“He said, ‘You’ve got Parkinson's.’
“The doctor asked me how I wanted to approach this. Did I want to take a very mild medication over several weeks or a medicine with side effects, with hallucinations, that takes about a week. I told him I’ve grown up in a world where you’ve had six days to get better, not six weeks. Lets do the six day.”
Mandrusiak said he spent the second half of the Eskimos season dealing with the realities of it. And he’s here this weekend dealing with telling the people from his world that he has Parkinson's.
“I talked to Warren Moon here today. He’s here with the alumni. I spent an hour with Matt Dunigan Thursday. My son Matt, who is on my game-day crew, is named after him. I talked to Dave Cutler. His mother had Parkinson's.
“When the Eskimos offered to send me here for the 100th I thought I would go. I wanted to appreciate it. I’ve been to 17 of them with the Eskimos in the game. I wanted to experience and celebrate this one. I’ve run into so many people I know. I’ve gone to so many functions. The organization has been great getting me here. I’m very happy the organization brought me here. Everybody has been so supportive. That’s a real positive for me.”
Mandrusiak explained where he’s at with the disease right now.
“The toes on my left foot are curled like I’ve got a pencil under them. I’m at the rigidity stage. It’s where your hands curl up and lock up. If I’m sitting working on a helmet and my hands lock up, I’ll have to sit for a few minutes and wait to do things.”
Mandrusiak said he’s come to terms with having it.
“Now that I know what I have, I’ve taken the perspective that there are a lot of people who are worse off. My younger brother Darrold has Pick's Disease. It’s kind of like rapid Alzheimer’s. It’s very rare.
“He’s 55. I’m 56. He’s in long-term care and forgotten a lot already. I visit him a lot but I also say when I go it’s like visiting him 10 times in one day. Every time he goes out for a moment and comes back, he’ll say ‘Hey, look who’s here.’ ”
Mandrusiak wants everybody to know there’s no quit in him. “I used to joke and say I’m on the 50-year plan. I’m close with 42 years in. The doctor says as long as I can maintain it, I should have no issues and maintain it.
“It’s not going to stop me. Eventually it’s just going to slow me down. It just takes longer.”
Mandrusiak said there was a situation at home.
“At the same time I found out my son Mackenzie was accepted to go in the fire department. He’s been my assistant. He said ‘How can I go?’ I said ‘Go. It’s your dream.’ He graduated on the Friday before the Eastern semifinal here. I flew down on the red-eye.
“I told Mackenzie to get his 25 years in with the fire department, get his pension and then I’ll retire and he can take over for me.”
Fight the good fight Dwayne. We're all behind you sir. BONE!!!
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/11/2...insons-disease
TORONTO - The longest-serving member of the Edmonton Eskimos organization, a man who has been with his team at 17 Grey Cups and has 10 Grey Cup rings, came here without his team and for a very different reason this year.
Dwayne Mandrusiak, the Eskimos equipment man of 42 seasons, came here to begin letting out the news and to find support with people like Warren Moon, Matt Dunigan and so many others he has known and met in football who are here to celebrate the 100th Grey Cup.
The news is that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
“I was diagnosed in August,” he said.
“In the last couple of years I was starting to hear a lot of people say ‘Are you OK?’ and ‘Did you have a stroke?’ and I’m looking at them saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ It wasn’t recognizable to me. Or if it was I was in some form of denial.
“The left side of my body was kind of closing down. If I took a step on my right foot, there would be a little delay with my left foot.”
Mandrusiak didn’t go to a doctor. The team doctors came to him.
“They approached me and said ‘We want you to get some tests. We’re a little concerned how stiff you are.’ ”
He said Dr. Boris Boyko of the Eskimos staff sent him to a neurosurgeon.
“The neurosurgeon said he wanted to watch me walk down the hall. I walked 10 feet and he said ‘I know what you’ve got. Do you want me to sugar coat it or say what you’ve got?’
“I said just tell me.
“He said, ‘You’ve got Parkinson's.’
“The doctor asked me how I wanted to approach this. Did I want to take a very mild medication over several weeks or a medicine with side effects, with hallucinations, that takes about a week. I told him I’ve grown up in a world where you’ve had six days to get better, not six weeks. Lets do the six day.”
Mandrusiak said he spent the second half of the Eskimos season dealing with the realities of it. And he’s here this weekend dealing with telling the people from his world that he has Parkinson's.
“I talked to Warren Moon here today. He’s here with the alumni. I spent an hour with Matt Dunigan Thursday. My son Matt, who is on my game-day crew, is named after him. I talked to Dave Cutler. His mother had Parkinson's.
“When the Eskimos offered to send me here for the 100th I thought I would go. I wanted to appreciate it. I’ve been to 17 of them with the Eskimos in the game. I wanted to experience and celebrate this one. I’ve run into so many people I know. I’ve gone to so many functions. The organization has been great getting me here. I’m very happy the organization brought me here. Everybody has been so supportive. That’s a real positive for me.”
Mandrusiak explained where he’s at with the disease right now.
“The toes on my left foot are curled like I’ve got a pencil under them. I’m at the rigidity stage. It’s where your hands curl up and lock up. If I’m sitting working on a helmet and my hands lock up, I’ll have to sit for a few minutes and wait to do things.”
Mandrusiak said he’s come to terms with having it.
“Now that I know what I have, I’ve taken the perspective that there are a lot of people who are worse off. My younger brother Darrold has Pick's Disease. It’s kind of like rapid Alzheimer’s. It’s very rare.
“He’s 55. I’m 56. He’s in long-term care and forgotten a lot already. I visit him a lot but I also say when I go it’s like visiting him 10 times in one day. Every time he goes out for a moment and comes back, he’ll say ‘Hey, look who’s here.’ ”
Mandrusiak wants everybody to know there’s no quit in him. “I used to joke and say I’m on the 50-year plan. I’m close with 42 years in. The doctor says as long as I can maintain it, I should have no issues and maintain it.
“It’s not going to stop me. Eventually it’s just going to slow me down. It just takes longer.”
Mandrusiak said there was a situation at home.
“At the same time I found out my son Mackenzie was accepted to go in the fire department. He’s been my assistant. He said ‘How can I go?’ I said ‘Go. It’s your dream.’ He graduated on the Friday before the Eastern semifinal here. I flew down on the red-eye.
“I told Mackenzie to get his 25 years in with the fire department, get his pension and then I’ll retire and he can take over for me.”
Fight the good fight Dwayne. We're all behind you sir. BONE!!!
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