Mr. ‘Body Worlds’ Announces He Has Parkinson’s Disease

And is QUITE the DRAMA QUEEN about it…

Nothing quite like getting out of your SKIN at the end of a long day...

When Gail and I shuffle off this mortal coil, we both have little cards in our wallets that mean we will be trundled off to a nearby lab in Glen Burnie where our remains will be parceled out as part of the “Anatomic Gifts Registry.”  That means we’ll be used for study, to look at how the ravages of age and disease have affected our mortal remains…

I’ve written before that I kinda hope I get snapped up by this Gunther von Hagens fella so I can be incorporated into his “Body Worlds” exhibit.  My choice would be to be seated at a diner table, eternally feasting on a plasticized cheeseburger.  And, if my fantasy plays out as I hope, folks who knew me in life will walk by the exhibit, nudge each other and whisper, “Say, doesn’t that look a little like BILL?”

Well, turns out von Hagens and I have something in common.  We both have Parkinson’s, and we’re both Drama Queens.

In a lengthy address to his employees at the Plastinarium in Guben, Dr. von Hagens disclosed for the first time, what his family and inner circle have known for two years – that the scientist who brought human health and anatomy into the public sphere with his BODY WORLDS exhibitions has been grappling with a degenerative disease. “This disease has led me to an existential bewilderment. According to my research the average duration of the disease and disability is about nine years. Since I was diagnosed two years ago, I can realistically expect seven active working years before I become totally incapacitated,” he told the assembly.

With his trademark candor, the 64 year-old former University of Heidelberg researcher described the deterioration that accompanies Parkinson’s. “I can no longer hide the symptoms. My hands tremble, my language is vague, my movements are uncoordinated. Again and again I stumble around like a child. I have begun to take leave of skills I once had, knowing that they will never come back again. I have struggled daily with the disabilities, the disease relentlessly pushed into consciousness. As I hide, the symptoms do not abate, they are ruthlessly effective in a social context. I am glad of the weekends when I am alone because I do not have to hide my symptoms, but can work around them,” he said.

He also talked about his own dance with Deep Brain Stimulation.

He also spoke of the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation surgery – the implantation of two electrodes in the brain — that he underwent more than a year ago, to avoid the use of drugs that could lead to disorientation. “This medical advance has allowed me to function, and optimized my ability to perform daily tasks. When I turn up the power, my tremors cease, but my language degenerates into an unintelligible murmur. When I set the current low, I am able to speak almost normally, but I must sit on my trembling left hand or hide it in my trouser pocket,” von Hagens said.

Ach du LIEBER! Mit der TREMBLING und der MUMBLING und der SCHTUMBLING ABOUDT!  How does he stand it… and for TWO YEARS, yet!  HIMMEL!!!

I still hope he snags my body for his exhibit.  Maybe he could have us posed as professional wrestlers or something.