My Interview With Michael J. Fox

CBS ^ | 10/26/2006 | Katie Couric

[dave k]

I’ve interviewed Michael J. Fox several times before – but never quite like this.

After all the controversy and publicity and debate about his political ad, and the criticism he got from people like Rush Limbaugh, he really is in the eye of a political storm right now. But when he came to our studio for our exclusive interview, he was remarkably calm. He was also obviously symptomatic. He trembled uncontrollably, and his legs shook, but he explained it was actually a side effect of not taking enough medication. He told me he reduced his dosage because he didn’t want to have dyskinesia, which is the side effect of too much medication, and which causes the swaying back and forth that was so evident in the controversial ad for Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill. Fox said that he can never tell from one day to the next how serious his symptoms will be. It’s a crapshoot.

[Stone Mountain]

If you think he looks great, we'll have to agree to disagree. If those few seconds at a time are the very best he can come up with, he's really not in good shape. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone familiar with Parkinsons who wouldn't recognize it there.

[Stone Mountain]

I'm so sorry to hear about your boyfriend - how awful. I know what you mean about Parkinson's - once you're sensitized to the symptoms, they are hard to miss. I'm guessing that if you looked at the YouTube link I posted, it wouldn't take you more than a few seconds to see it, although clearly, others don't...

[Stone Mountain]

Fox was asymptomatic during the scenes we viewers, including Rush, saw.

I just have to say, that Fox was in no way asymtomatic in that clip. I can't believe anyone with a knowledge of Parkinson's would disagree.

[photodawg]

High recent dose is walking through mud. Low late dose is uncontrollable dancing. According to my mom that's about to die with (not of) Parkinson's.

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Informative. This can occur inadvertently I assume. Is it hard to get exactly the right dose? Was Rush being overly hard on Fox regarding the uncontrolled movement? Even so the inaccuracies of the ad and the use of unassailable victim was the point. Ann Coulter seems to have hit on an excellent point regarding the libs hiding behind emotions to prevent lies and distortions from being challenged. Everybody is hip to this game now.

[photodawg]

I dislike these misleading ads but many of the comments on these threads about Fox's condition are gratuitous and contrary to fact.
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As accurate as Rush's statements about the ad were, he overplayed his hand by insinuating Fox was acting. The point was the dems and McCaskill using a Parkinson's sufferer to misrepresent the cloning and embryonic stem cell argument. I think Rush wanted to make sure his statements got picked up by MSM and that's why he attacked Fox. To illustrate the point. Overdoing it however, served to obscure the real point in voter's minds.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

No. Not 'inadvertently.' She schedules her dose according to how active she wants to be. For about three hours after ingestion she is nearly frozen, the 'walking through mud' stage, as the dose wears thin she can be more active until late in the dose she is 'dancing.'

Thank you for your reasoned response. In return I'll say that in a few hours I'm off to try to see her alive. She has had P-ism for many years, is worn out physically and emotionally and is ready to 'go'. Her DNR has already been violated once.

Damn M. J. Fox for his ignorance...see my tagline

[photodawg]

Thank you for your reasoned response. In return I'll say that in a few hours I'm off to try to see her alive. She has had P-ism for many years, is worn out physically and emotionally and is ready to 'go'. Her DNR has already been violated once.
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God Bless and God speed.