It was a rough 20 minutes.
And then, like every other day in the Pollio household, we went back to yelling at each other about the potential success of UofL basketball or the upcoming election.
With Parkinson's, there is no cure. No fixing. No getting better. So we did what Pollios do, we kept moving forward.
Fast forward eight years and my dad was "un" diagnosed. Yes, after eight years of medication, eight years of doctors visits, eight years of waiting for the symptoms to get worse, he was told that he was misdiagnosed and does not have Parkinson's.
I asked myself, "What if this had been someone else?" "What if this had been a person that had plunged into the pool of depression or started worrying about every little ache and pain as if it was a sign of something to come?" But it was not that person. It was Mike Pollio. It was a person that moved forward and never felt sorry for himself....a person that continued to live as if no diagnosis was made at all.
And after the news of a misdiagnosis? Much of the same. No anger towards the first doctor. No move to get refunded for the thousands and thousands of dollars spent on medication.
Growing up, when bad things happened, there was a time to be sad. There was time for hugs and for consolation. But that time was about 10 minutes. Then, we all got to work saying, "How are we going to fix this?" Our strength has always gotten us through.
Is my family really as strong as I think? ARE we invincible?
Now, I will most definitely admit that we have a lot of luck and good genes on our side. Many people are just handed a load of challenges, and we were not. But I also wonder if this amazing man, this head of our household, just convinced us that we were invincible...that we were stronger than anything that was thrown at us. Bad stuff happened and we asked, "How are we going to fix it?" Life was not going as planned? "How can I make it better?"
There is no doubt, our strength comes with a price. Living with us is not always easy and compassion is minimal.
But as for myself, I very rarely stay down for long. I tell myself, "there has to be a solution" and I look high and low for that solution. I will feel down for a bit but then I get to work. My dad instilled in me an unbelievable sense of strength. This feeling that I can conquer anything.
I will admit, that of my family members, I have been through the least. As a family, we are far from untouched. My sister has faced challenge after challenge with a special needs child. My younger brother has faced some serious health issues as an adult. But we always keep moving forward. And we ALWAYS rally!
Today. my sister sits in a hospital bed unable to feel her feet. That's some scary stuff. But I know the Pollios. I know who we are and what we can do. So while I am a bit worried about her recovery process, I have no doubt that she will fully recover. It's what we do. It's who Mike Pollio taught us to be.
