Michael J Fox
 

On Letterman right now.

Parkinsons looks to be getting worse or he's having a bad night.

Tremendous respect for that guy.

He has strength and whenever I see him I'm inspired to be better.

I read somewhere a while ago that he can control the tremors ok with medication, but chooses not to do so much of the time.

Still, no doubt, it seems it's a disease that only gets worse with time.

I'm with you with respect for the guy. He puts himself out there quite a bit to try and help others, and he doesn't have to do that.

Yeah. He's said he doesn't always take the medicines. If he has a show to do or an interview, he'll try to time their maximum effect to the interview window. Sometimes, he's off by 20-30 minutes and they haven't kicked in yet.

I have tremendous respect for him.

Respect...

Respect is right. Back when he was on that TV sitcom and filming "Back to the Future" at the same time, he insisted on a full schedule on both shows, knowing they both needed him. He was working more than 16 hours every day for months. He didn't have to do that, but he didn't want to let anyone down.

Another example of life not being fair.....

He is so positive...it is amazing. Great guy.

Very sad....a great Canadian guy....

He has appeared in several episodes of "Rescue Me" this year. Plays a very combative, don't give a damn, wheelchair bound guy.. a great part.

Good Guy, but has a political ax to grind. Big time Lib, was pushing stem cell research.
I don't have a problem with this, but he intentionally does not take meds to push his
agenda. Adult stem cells are the only ones that have had any real results. But, the Libs
are pushing their abortion issue using this as an excuse. Still, I admire his fortitude.

p930man

No, no, no.
And don't push this to PARF.

maybe he's positive from all the xtc tablet's he eats before interviews... .mdma is known to help for parkinson's

I've also heard that he enjoys ballroom dancing with the love of his life - his wife - somehow dancing helps keep his tremors in check.

There's a man who has lived life to the fullest, and won't slow down if something bad happens. I am humbled by his drive.

Huge respect for him.
-Z

Agreed, please don't push this to the gutter.

I appreciate this heads up. Being on the west coast I read this and got to watch him. I don't usually stay up that late. This guy is a class act all the way.

He is also funny as &*^% and has a great ability to laugh at himself.

Agreed. Funny as hell on "Rescue Me."

Quite a good guitarist (or was at one time) as well. Apparently EVH taught him for Back to the Future.

Loved him in Back to the Future. Seems like a great guy, the type you want to have a few beers with...

What do you mean no? Mr Fox has stated this as fact on more than one occasion. He always struck me as a right kind of guy, despite his political views.

That's the correct story. He doesn't take meds during public appearances to highlight his agenda.

No need for this to go to Parf -

He's a Canadian, so his Cdn Conservative stance is often mistaken for a US Lib stance ;)

Watch it, fools.

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I applaud this man. He is so courageous just to go on television like he does. He's doing great things to help the PD community. A cure is possible, and hopefully we will see it in our lifetime.

I wonder how the Canadian health care system would be handling his condition?
Is he better off here or there?

HUGE fan. Back to the Future is my all time favorite movie and it's just icing on the cake that he is such an incredible guy.

I don't care what his political views are, he rocks.

You can not compare the health care of a wealthy person in America to the services available in Canadian. They aren't even close.

I'm terribly confused by some responses here.

What is Fox's agenda? To cure his debilitating illness?

Fox's current Meds will not cure him. They only mask the symptoms of his disease.

His is a degenerative disease.

It will only get worse, not better.

At some point the meds will likely be completely ineffective.

Why does he not have the right to fight for his own life?

Why is that wrong?

What is wrong with you people?

Why do you think someone here said he does not?

There's nothing wrong with using your illness to create awareness for more R&D into a cure. However, Fox has been touted (not just by himself) by others whose agendas go way, way beyond curing his condition. His condition has nothing to do with abortion, but his jumping into the embryonic stem cell debate does.

I believe it all comes down to the stem cell research thing.

As someone who suffers from a chronic disease myself, I can relate to Michael J Fox's plight - though to a far lesser degree. As most of you know, I have diabetes, which is a far more manageable disease than what MJF suiffers from. Yet it is still a chronic disease and to be honest, it does limit me to some extent, and will very likely cause some life threatening complications in the long run.

Apparently, stem cell research and politics and religion don't mix. I am a conservative Christian, yet if given the opportunity to be cured of my disease, I will gladly put my religious views aside to gain a better quality of life. Of course I still have morals and am bound by various guidelines, and maybe I need to gain a better understanding of the whole stem cell 'industry.'

Am I being selfish? Is MJF being selfish? Unethical? Immoral? I dunno - that's not for me to decide - but I bet if some of the politicians and religious leaders were to spend a day in MJF's shoes, their views on stem cell research may be a little different.

I don't mean to make this a political or religious thread - for me, it is a PERSONAL thing - not a political one.

-Z-man.

I don't understand how everyone immediately equates embryonic stem cells with abortion. They're using blastocysts from in vitro fertilization to start the cultures. If I was Fox, I'd do the same thing.
I support embryonic stem cell research. I support all scientific research.
I don't let an old story book tell me what to do.
There.
I PARF'd it up for all of you.

I really have no problem with embryonic stem cell research either. And I doubt Fox's agenda extends beyond finding a cure for his disease. It's just that there are a lot of groups out there who want nothing more than a celebrity spokesperson for their cause, which is not always as it seems. Since embryonic stem cell research has not shown anything close to the promising results adult stem cells have, you have to sort of wonder why some folks are so passionate about the former and not the latter. And if something shows promise for a cure, seem to me the private investment money would beat a path to its door.

Jesus was pro-embryonic stem cell research.

+1 Shumi. So sad to have witnessed my mother for years slowly deteriorating and finally succumbing to this nightmare disease. It must be a very scary and hopeless feeling for the victims. My deepest sympathies Michael.

I think many peoples moral high ground is inversely proportional to how much skin they've got in the game.

Adult stem cell research has a 20 year jump on embryonic research.

It's not a fair comparison.

My whole perspective changed this year when my wife and I went through the IVF process. When I saw the blast placed inside, then weeks later seeing a heartbeat, and next week we get to find out the sex!

Those blobs of cells used to be just a blob of cells, now, for us, they are truely the greatest possible gift.

We have 3 frozen blasts left over. The option to donate to science was considered prior to a succesful implatation. Once we saw a heartbeat, our minds were changed and our only options for us is to give them a chance within our own family, or donate to someone with the same struggles to have children naturally.

Where was M. J. Fox, the "big time liberal" during our recent election?
Nowhere to be seen!
Some political agenda.

+1

Really happy for you. Honestly.
But not everyone needs to have children just because they want to.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/483263-police-charges-coming-against-python-owner-florida-toddlers-strangling-death.html

The agenda is not necessarily his own, rather he has been used by others to further their agendas. Is he even a U.S. citizen?

He has been used? Have evidence or just emotion?

I should have added "hypothetically." He does have a foundation (client of my company) and its main purpose has nothing to do with abortion politics. But that doesn't mean pro-choice orgs, some pretty out there, aren't using his appearances to further their own agenda. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some very political, pro-choice orgs like NARAL and Planned Parenthood (also clients of my company) having written large checks to his foundation. Strange bedfellows and all.