Source: Screenshot YouTube
The Hollywood star Michael J. Fox has been battling Parkinson’s disease for the past 31 years, and he’s speaking out this week to give an update about his health after a particularly difficult year.
In his 2020 memoir “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality,” Fox wrote that 2018 was the worst year of his life, as it saw him break his arm after undergoing a risky spinal cord surgery to remove a tumor. In a new interview, however, Fox revealed that 2022 has put 2018 to shame for him in terms of how bad things could get.
“It got worse,” Fox, 61, told People Magazine. “I broke my cheek, then my hand, then my shoulder, had a replacement shoulder put in and broke my [right] arm, then I broke my elbow. I’m 61 years old, and I’m feeling it a little bit more.”
Things got even worse when Fox got an infection after he had surgery on his broken hand, meaning that he could not use this hand for some time. This led to more balance issues and falls, which he was already dealing with for decades because of his Parkinson’s. While Fox is known for trying to stay positive at all times, he admitted that these setbacks made it difficult for him to see the bright side of life.
“I was never really a cranky guy, but I got very cranky and short with people,” the former Back To The Future star confessed. “I try to nip it in the bud. I always think of these aides who work with me. And I often say to them, ‘Whatever I say, just imagine I said “please” at the beginning and “thank you” at the end. Just take a second and absorb that I might have said that if I was more myself, but I didn’t, so I apologize.'”
Thankfully, Fox is now in a place where he feels like he’s starting to feel better both physically and emotionally.
“Just now,” he said, “I’m coming through where the last of my injuries are healing up; my arm is feeling good. Life is interesting. It deals you these things.”
Fox went on to say that now, “the whole mission is: Don’t fall down. So whatever works to not fall down, whether it’s a walker or a wheelchair, a cane, a guy with a belt around my waist holding onto it — I use all those tools.”
Unfortunately, Fox’s health wasn’t the only difficult thing that he had to deal with in 2022, as he also lost his mother Phyllis last month when she passed away at the age of 92. He described her as a “spectacular” woman who was a devoted military wife to his late father William, who served in the Canadian forces for 25 years.
“Army wives are masters of adaptation,” Fox said. “They just know how to approach a new situation, get the house together, get the schools set up, get a job on the side — because military salary is nothing. As kids, we didn’t get it. Now I get it.”
Daily Mail reported that Phyllis’ obituary stated that she “took special pride in raising awareness for Diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease, and in serving on the board of the Michael J Fox Theatre in Burnaby.”
Even in the wake of this devastating loss, Fox is still trying to maintain a positive outlook. He told Entertainment Tonight that while he is feeling “good,” each day brings new challenges.
“I don’t think there’s anything like a typical day at all, ever,” he admitted. “Not to get too heavy about it, my health issues have given me every different day, so it’s been how I deal with that. It can be different but consistently, it’s good. I mean, I love my family, I love my work, I love my situation, I’m happy.”
It’s thinking about what “the alternative” is that helps Fox look at the bright side.
“The alternative isn’t good,” he said. “So, no, I just love life and it’s a matter of acceptance. The more you accept, the more you are grateful for it, because you see the contrast between what’s good and what’s not and what you have in your life. My family, my career and the people I meet every day.”
Since his diagnosis back in 1991, Fox has helped to raise more than a billion and a half dollars for Parkinson’s research through his foundation. He continues to be an inspiration to his millions of adoring fans, and we pray that 2023 is a better year for him in every way.
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