I Am Not My Own

Be still, my throbbing hand
Get control over yourself
Constant moving
A reminder that my life
Is not my own
That is folly
Am I no more than the sum of my circumstances?
Diseases that have taken over this body
That used to be mine
Now belongs to the hands of the doctors...

© Timothy E. Wahlstrom May 03,  2026

I wrote this as my right hand shook uncontrollably with Parkinson's Disease one morning at 2:30 AM. Unable to sleep, I am awake and at the keyboard. Writing about my PD and its effects on my life. Is the disease in control? Am I in control? We hand ourselves over to doctors and surgeons who take us into their hands and minds for answers, healing, and cures, in the hope that we can get ourselves back and be in control again, if we ever were in the first place.