37 세에 파킨슨씨병 진단을 받은 전 NBA 농구 선수 Brian Grant

[jean]

Grant takes charge of Parkinson's battle

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By Ric Bucher
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

PORTLAND, Ore. -- With a huge black-and-white painting of Bob Marley peering over one shoulder and a half-dozen framed NBA jerseys visible over the other, Brian Grant took a deep breath, ignored his left hand shaking as if it were trying to put out a match, and let go of the secret that had tormented him for the last four months.

"I have young onset Parkinson's," he said.

That's Parkinson's, as in the disease that disrupts the brain's coordination and control of muscle movement and motor skills. A progressive disease for which the cause and the cure are unknown. A disease so rare for someone like Grant, 37, to contract that his case is identified as "young onset."

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Ken LevineThis 1999 dunk for Portland is how Brian Grant's peers in the NBA remember him.

It is a disease rarer still for a man so adept at coordinating and controlling every ounce and inch of his 6-foot-9, 254-pound frame that he put together a 12-year NBA career by battling Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and dozens of other bigger, stronger opponents.

Which makes this scene particularly surreal. Grant retired nearly three seasons ago but still has his trademark dreadlocks and goatee that complete the striking resemblance to Marley. His shoulders are still broad and massive, his calves still surprisingly marathoner-thin, his handshake still firm. In a short-sleeved polo shirt, khaki shorts and beach sandals, he looks like the typical NBA player in offseason attire in his game room. Outside the windows, friends and family are lounging in and around a pool with a waterfall and a slide. A barbecue grill is being primed. Across the glistening Willamette River is a chugging train and a dense hill of green forest.

Grant is not allowing his announcement to interrupt his day any more than, as of this moment, he is willing to let Parkinson's decide where he goes and who he sees. He sits in his game room, surrounded by ESPN's lights and cameras, explaining why he has ducked so many appearance offers and skipped his sons' basketball practices lately -- and why he won't any longer. As he does, the tremors noticeably diminish.

"My greatest fear," he said, "is losing control of me. Having someone have to take care of me. But that was at the beginning."

That was in January, after tests confirmed he had the disease, something he had suspected for a couple of months. He first noticed a recurring tremor in his left hand last summer while still living in Miami, where he played four seasons for the Heat. A neurologist attributed it to stress and expressed doubt that it was Parkinson's, a diagnosis Grant eagerly embraced. No one in his family had ever been afflicted, and he didn't know much more about it other than actor Michael J. Fox had it. That's all he wanted to know.

Besides, he was definitely stressed out. The bone-on-bone knee condition that ended his career kept him from working out. He was gaining weight and felt directionless. He'd never connected with people in Miami the way he had in the closer-knit, slower-paced city of Portland. So he moved his wife Gina and their four kids back last fall.

"Outside the Lines"

Watch Ric Bucher's report on Brian Grant's battle with Parkinson's disease on "Outside the Lines" at 9 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN.

He felt instantly more connected. He helped coach his two sons' basketball teams. The Blazers and their cable telecast network reached out to him. But the tremors continued, so now the problem was, how to hide it?

"If I'm emotional for any reason, it's going to go," he said. "The sons and the boys on their team didn't really understand. So I'd start dribbling a ball or doing something to try to hide it."

Researching possible causes only increased his anxiety.

"It's a scary time because you don't know what to do," he said. "I found myself wondering, 'My feet are going to do what? My body is going to do what? I'm not going to be able to swallow?'"

Then the Blazers invited him to a Nov. 6 game against the Rockets to honor Kevin Duckworth, the Blazers center who had died of a heart attack at age 44 in late August. Grant wasn't going to miss it, even if he was filled with dread about being in front of a Rose Garden packed with fans and former teammates who had watched his every move for three seasons -- and knew a constantly jiggling left hand hadn't been one of them.

"I hadn't been in front of a crowd that big since I retired," he said. "I kept trying to think about how I could disguise my hand. And I knew the players were going to see it and wonder what was up. That's what bothered me the most. I did not want to be perceived by the players as weak."

He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, a button-down shirt over it and a dark blazer. It was a cold December day, but he sweated through all of it. Clutching his left hand with his right to keep it still only prompted other parts of his body to start twitching -- his head, his shoulders, his legs. He played it off as nervousness, admitting only to former teammate Jerome Kersey that it was a tremor and that he didn't know the cause.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Alan DiazGrant played in 123 consecutive games until a bruised knee kept him on the bench during this January 2004 game. Knee problems ultimately forced him into retirement.

He finally decided, though, to find out. He found a highly regarded neurologist, Dr. John Nutt, at the renowned Oregon Health and Sciences University. Nutt asked him to follow a program of exercise, stretching and an improved diet and then come back for another examination. That led to the January trip to Los Angeles for tests that conclusively determined he has Parkinson's.

After a week of coming to grips with his new reality, Grant went on the offensive. He called his agent and confided in former teammate Pat Burke, with whom he played during his last season in Phoenix. Since some studies suggest metals and minerals absorbed into the body are a potential culprit, he started eating only organic foods. He had the water at his house tested for levels of arsenic and other impurities. He changed his deodorant and his toothpaste and his soap. He reached out to both Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali, both of whom are well-known Parkinson's patients.

He also found a second physician, Dr. Daniel Newman, who combines traditional treatments with naturopathic and Oriental medicine. Now the game-room bar is Grant's laboratory, where he has been taking a precise concoction of vitamins, herbs, powders and cod-liver oil several times a day. The tremors, he says, have noticeably decreased. Nutt is the grounded realist and Newman the purveyor of new possibilities, but both agree that making Grant feel empowered is vital to sustaining his health as long as possible.

"Just me believing in a positive spirit will take me farther in the long run," Grant said.

His reclusiveness, though, was spurring wild rumors.

"I had people saying they'd heard I was debilitated, like in a wheelchair," he said. "I finally decided, 'I need to get in front of this.' Maybe there's somebody who is in their 20s and has young onset and is scared. We're all going through this together. I'm just stepping into it. But now I'm ready to step into it. This has given me a purpose."

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Tony GutierrezGrant, with the Heat here in 2001, never feared matchups with bigger, stronger players.

Whatever doubts he might've still had were erased last week by three events -- an invitation from the Ali family to visit, a phone conversation with Fox and the cancer death of Wayman Tisdale, the man he succeeded as a rookie with the Sacramento Kings.

"Because I was coming in and he was leaving, it was always a good battle when we played after that," Grant said. "He was always encouraging back then. He had that smile and upbeat character until the end. When I got the message that he'd died, I looked at what he must've been going through and thought, 'What the hell do I have to get down about? Stand up, be a man and face this.'"

So he is -- first in front of a camera, now in the middle of his kitchen. He's teasing his mother-in-law, Kathleen, and a friend, Craig. Their combined effort to cook a turkey in a rotisserie on the counter has tendrils of white smoke seeping from the top of the machine. Gina, an international dance instructor, is in L.A. on a business trip. Outside, Grant's two daughters are splashing around in the pool. His two sons will arrive shortly from a lacrosse game. Grant says he had another nervous sweat going in front of the cameras, but neither his forehead nor his thin navy shirt show a hint of perspiration.

Instead, he's talking about how much Fox's insight has helped him.

"He told me you have to rule it, you can't let it rule you," Grant said. "There's no saying, 'If it's going this way, then I'm going this way.' It's going to be with you. But instead of letting it control you and take you under, you've got to say, 'OK, I know you're going with me but you're going to be back there.'"

There's a certainty in his voice, the same tone he often used talking about his plan to neutralize a bigger, stronger player. He pantomimes -- telling his disease where to go by thrusting his left thumb over his right shoulder. As he does, the left hand that rarely stops shaking is still.

Ric Bucher joined ESPN in January 1999 as a San Francisco-based senior writer covering professional basketball for ESPN The Magazine, and as an NBA reporter for "SportsCenter." Bucher also contributes to ESPN.com. Brian Grant is creating a Web site, www.briangrant.org, for people who might be afflicted with Parkinson's or who want to follow his battle with the disease.

[jean]

요즘 부쩍 진전에 관해 쪽지글로 문의하시는 분들이 많아 , 관련기사를 실었습니다.

지난해 5월18일자 신문인데,
12년간 NBC 농구선수로 활약하다 무릎 통증과 몸의 콘트롤이 잘되지 않아 은퇴를 선언한 뒤,
왼손의 미세한 떨림이 잇어 ,신경과를 찾아 파킨슨 병이라는 말을 듣고 마이애미에서 고향인 포틀랜드, 오래곤으로 옮겨와 확진을 받게된후 ,
그의 심경과 변화를 적은 내용입니다.
37세의 젊은 나이에 심한 진전이 있음에도,파병은 두렵지 않으나, 언젠가 남에 의해 돌봄을 받게되는 게 두렵다고 말하며,
인터뷰 도중에도 왼손의 진전은 멈추지 않지만, 표정은 편안해 보였습니다.

[jean]

Yahoo 영문판 검색하시어, The Michael J. Fox Database 로 들어가시면, 2월18일자 동영상으로 마이클과 브라이언의 대담내용을 보실 수 잇습니다. 특히 브라이언의 왼손 진전을 관찰해보실 수 있구요. 브라이언이 마이클과 함께 파킨슨연구 기금조성을 위해 협조한다는 내용이고, 최근 동영상은, 얼마전, 뱅쿠버 동계올림픽 아이돌로 출연한 마이클의 하키플레이 동영상도 있습니다.지난번 제가 소개한 책 중, 리베르만이라는 미국 파병전문의의 책 부제가, Fighting Like a TIGER, Thinking LIKE a Fox 이듯, 마이클 J. 폭스처럼 낙천적인 성격이
파병관리에 도움이 되는 것을 부정할 수가 없습니다. 최근 마이클 모습이 작년보다 훨신 좋아

[jean]

보이니, 관심잇으신 분은 검색해보시구요

브라이언은,현재까지 약물치료는 않고, 스트레칭과 대구간유 그리고 오리엔탈쎄라피라고햇는데 구체적인 것은 모르겠고, 식이요법(채소위주의 철저한 오가닉)으로 진전이 많이 나아졋다고합니다.(하지만, 그는 조만간 약물치료가 필요하다고말합니다.)

젊은 나이에 튼튼한 운동선수까지 파병에 걸릴 수 잇다는 사실에 놀랏고, 지나친 체력소모의 운동보다는 스트레칭 같은 유연성을 기르는 운동이 낫다는 증명을 해준 셈이죠.

한편, 세계적으로 힘잇고 돈잇고 명성잇는 사람들이 파킨슨병에 걸렷으니, 치료나 연구에 박차를 가하지않을까하는 기대를 가져봅니다.

[마당쇠]

유익한 정보 감사합니다.

[지니니]

울남편도 진전이 주증상인데 정보 감사합니다

[목련]

언젠가 남에 의해 돌봄을 받게되는게 두렵다고 말한것에 대해 저 또한 공감하며 두렵습니다. 항상 남편의 보호아래에 살고있었는데....제맘도 슬프네요~ 좋은글 감사합니다

[jean]

윗글을 올린 이유중 하나가, 젊고 튼튼한 운동선수도 PD 에 걸릴 수 잇고, 그의 낙천적인 태도로 병을 받아들이는 점에 위안을 받으시라는 의미입니다.

싸이트에 들어가 동영상을 보시면, 마이클과 브라이언의 각기 다른 PD 증세(브라이언은 초파로 진전, 마이클은 십년넘어 불수의등)도 구별이 되며,
공영방송에 출연해 당당한 모습으로 연구기금조성을 하는 여유를 배워야겟다는 생각이 들어섭니다.

마이클은 근래에 부쩍 좋아졋는데, 비결이 뭔지, 알아내야겠어요.

[환희]

jean 열심히 자료 올려 주셔서 감사합니다 그곳에서도 늘 건강하시고 좋은 자료 많이 올려주세요 감사합니다

[jean]

고맙습니다. 계속 좋은 상태를 유지하신다는 반가운 소식에 안도합니다.
케어를 워낙 잘하셔서 제 정보가 별 도움이 안될텐데요?

환희님도 늘 건강하시고 좋은 일만 많으시길...

[엔잴]

jean님의 글을 대하게 되어 반가워요. 작년 10월 마운틴 휘트니에서 넘어져 입과 이를 다치고, 11월 한국에서 위내시경, 장내시경등 건강검진후 몸의 컨디션이 좋지 않아 힘들었는데 요즘 회복되어 지낼만합니다. 올리시는 글로 많은 것을 배우고 위안도 받습니다. 고마워요.

[jean]

댓글 고맙고 반갑습니다. 근황이 궁금했는데 회복이 되셨다니 다행이네요.

요즘 남편에게 맞는 코큐텐을 찾아 용량을 올려 복용중이랍니다. 효과가 있든 없든, 꾸준히 복용해보려구요.