Parkinson’s and Purpose: How Thomas Dumont Keeps Creating and Inspiring

[00:00:00] This episode is brought to you by Crexont. That's Crexont. Carbidopa and Levodopa, extended release capsules. To learn more, visit Crexont.com. That's C-R-E-X-O-N-T dot com. Today we're joined by an amazing musician and producer, Thomas Dumont, who continues to create, perform, and inspire while living with Parkinson's. As I read all about Parkinson's, there were so many more symptoms that came up that I recognized. And I was like, oh, I have this symptom, I have this symptom.

[00:00:29] Holy crap, this is scary. What advice do you have for someone like that? The idea that nine years into a Parkinson's diagnosis, I was able to perform, you know, a couple of the biggest stages in the world. And I feel like that is an example that people can use to remember that they're not going to lose everything and they can still accomplish great things.

[00:01:05] Today we're joined by an amazing musician and producer, Thomas Dumont, who continues to create, perform, and inspire while living with Parkinson's. We'll talk about how music has shaped his journey, the challenges he's faced, and the hope he wants others to hold onto. Let's dive in. Tom, welcome to the show. All right. Thank you, Dr. Takara. Nice to see you. And thanks for taking the time, sharing your story and allowing for an honest conversation.

[00:01:30] I know publicly you came out with your diagnosis earlier this year before your residency at the Sphere. And we can use this episode for you to reflect back on that journey, maybe from diagnosis to current day. And if you don't mind, maybe if you can take us back to when you were first diagnosed with Parkinson's and what was going through your mind at that time. Yeah. Okay. So I, what was going on? Okay. So it was, I was 49 years old. I'm 58 now. So it was about almost nine years ago.

[00:01:58] I'll tell you a little bit about what led to the diagnosis. I was starting to experience just in my everyday life, some odd symptoms that were bothering me. And there was a bunch of little things I would, I used to go to the gym every morning and run on the treadmill. I used to walk and walk and run. I did back and forth.

[00:02:18] When I started this, I guess it was probably around that time I was 48 or 49 when I would, I would walk on the treadmill at a pretty quick pace for maybe 10, 15 minutes before I started to run. And about two minutes into the running, I just started, my right foot started like limping kind of heavily is the best way I can describe it. It was like my right foot just wasn't working right.

[00:02:40] And it would happen every day at two minutes into running. And it was, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't think a lot of it, but I was like, well, I guess I can't run anymore. Maybe I'm getting too old. And around the same time, it came to my attention that when I walked, just every day walking around, my right arm didn't swing. A few people called that to my attention and were like, you know, are you feeling okay? You're walking kind of funny.

[00:03:05] And when I discovered that this was happening, I did not know what to think of it. And when all of us walk, we don't think about our arms swinging. It's just something that happens, right? And when we see other people walking, we don't think about their arms swinging. It's one of those, you know, human behaviors that just totally goes unnoticed until it happens.

[00:03:25] And I was perplexed by it and I had no idea what to think about it. And so at the same time as well, the third big symptom that kind of kicked in was what we call brain fog. And it was just, and brain fog is kind of what it sounds like. I was just kind of, I would find myself walking around in a fog. And I remember specifically, we live in a neighborhood where my kids can walk to school, which is really wonderful.

[00:03:51] Especially when they were little, it was just fun to walk them to school and to walk to school and pick them up when they were little. And at this time, my youngest was about seven years old. And I just remember on my afternoons when I would walk to pick them up from school, from the elementary school, I started noticing this brain fog. And it did kind of happen every time that time of day for whatever reason, three, four in the afternoon. And it just struck me like something's going on and I'm worried about it.

[00:04:19] And I think with this arm swing and the foot drop when I jogged in this brain fog, at one point I just thought, really felt this something inside, like something's wrong with me. I'm kind of scared to find out what it is, is it? I had no idea what it could be. Like health issues well before, right? You've been pretty darn healthy. No, like, thank goodness. I've been very fortunate in my life that I've never had any major health issues at all. And I've been, you know, in pretty okay shape all my life.

[00:04:47] And so one day I just thought, and my doctor is also a neighbor of mine and a friend of mine, my regular everyday doctor. And I called his doctor's office and I was like, I need to get in to see Dr. Todd, something's up and I just need to ask him about it. And they said, well, he's out of town for the week. There's another doctor at his practice. So I'm like, let me come see her. You know, I just need to talk about this because it's starting to worry me.

[00:05:13] And I went over there and went to her office and I just kind of described these symptoms. And she was very, she was a good listener and very kindly said, it doesn't, you know, I started saying, could this be MS or, you know, or ALS? Because I've known a few people with ALS and obviously that's something nobody wants. And she said, no, your symptoms don't sound like either of those, your symptoms. She said, to be honest, your symptoms sound like Parkinson's disease. And what I'd like you to do is go see a neurologist.

[00:05:43] And in my mind, when she said that, it's just something that never crossed my mind. And I didn't, to be honest, I didn't really know what it was. But, and you weren't even really having tremors or anything like that, right? No shaking issues. No, no tremors at all, which was interesting. So, yeah, I did go see the neurologist and I did a DAT scan and the neurologist, you know, agreed that my symptoms sound like Parkinson's. He said, it probably is Parkinson's.

[00:06:08] The way we're going to find out is I'm going to put you on the main medication, which is carbidopa, levodopa. I'd like you to take it for a month and come back and see me. And so I was like, okay. And of course, when you hear those words, you know, it's concerning. And then you instantly go to Google and start Googling it and trying to find out. And as I read all about Parkinson's, there were so many more symptoms that came up that I recognized that were common. And I was like, oh, I have, I have this symptom. I have this.

[00:06:38] And so I kind of knew in my heart, okay, this is what I have. Holy crap. This is scary. And that particular neurologist was not like a very warm, talkative person. He was not unkind, but he said, you know, you need to go to a movement disorder specialist. That's not who I am. So, yeah, so I did start taking the medication and I was hoping to instantly feel something. And for a couple of weeks, I didn't feel anything.

[00:07:02] And basically what he said is if you, if your symptoms get better, if you feel better, that means the medicine's working and that kind of would confirm the diagnosis. But about three, four weeks into taking the medication, I did start feeling better. Like it was, it was an overall sense of like, well, I just felt more well. I felt like a little more positive outlook, just a little more energy. It was something that I couldn't pin down.

[00:07:27] And, you know, the funny thing about the arm swing is the moment you're walking and you have to think, is my arm swinging? It's a hard thing to catch yourself doing. But I did notice the arm swing would come back a little bit and the brain fog kind of started going away. And, and so, yeah, so I went back and he gave me a diagnosis. I went to a movement disorder specialist and began my journey. It's one of those diagnoses. The one thing you know is like, doesn't go away. It only gets worse.

[00:07:57] And your mind is filled with question marks. And like when you think about that, right? Yeah. When you, when you think about that, like knowing that it gets worse because that's what like, you know, Dr. Google says. And, you know, you hear things in people like that. But I mean, like when you look at the journey of it, even, you know, so many years down the road, I'm sure certain things have gotten worse. But have certain things also gotten better or stable? Yeah.

[00:08:23] Well, that, you know, looking back, things actually did get better immediately because the medication really worked and helped. And I've learned a lot in the eight years since and how, you know, number one, everyone's manifestation of symptoms is different. So like you mentioned before, I don't have a tremor. My primary symptom is bradykinesia, which is like a slowness of movement. And it's a hard thing to describe to people.

[00:08:50] And it was a hard thing to kind of understand when I first was diagnosed. And, you know, it was eight years ago. I was probably a little better off in general. You're a musician, right? So and a lot of my athletes or musicians or even certain professionals that do something like they perfected the art of whatever they do, they actually pick up on their symptoms pretty, pretty fast. Right.

[00:09:15] So as a professional musician that you are, how did Parkinson's affect your relationship with music? Is that something that you first noticed? Like there were some coordination issues with that kind of slow to some movement or find dexterity? You know, that's an interesting question. In my case, in the period where I was initially diagnosed, I was at a period when I wasn't playing music. So the band, no doubt, was on a hiatus. I had another side band with some friends and that was kind of on a hiatus.

[00:09:43] And so I wasn't actively performing at that moment. And so up until that point, you know, I didn't have any symptoms that kind of presented themselves in my guitar playing. So I'm a guitarist primarily. And so at that point, it hadn't crept into my guitar playing. I will say now, eight years later, it impacts my guitar playing quite a bit. And the bradykinesia is something that's much easier for me to describe now because it's more pronounced when my medication wears off.

[00:10:12] So since my Parkinson's symptoms are mostly on my right side of my body, my right leg, my right arm, when I play guitar, the bradykinesia impacts the speed at which my right hand works. So my left hand is kind of mostly fine and isn't really impacted, but my right hand is really impacted. So when my medicine isn't working or if it's completely worn off, which it does kind of tend to do throughout the day, I think probably most folks with Parkinson's experience that.

[00:10:39] And when my medication wears off, I really struggle to play the guitar. It's just, it's that back and forth picking motion. So bradykinesia, the easiest way to describe it is it slows down movement. It slows down everything. Experiencing bradykinesia, like I walk slowly, I move slowly. I'm more clumsy because my limbs don't work the way they're supposed to. You know, I tell myself, like, play this song and my hand just doesn't want to do it.

[00:11:06] And it's not for lack of practice or lack of strength necessarily. It just doesn't want to move quickly. And it's a very strange sensation. Yeah. Yeah. And I've seen, I've seen people tell me like, you know, those same type of things. And again, like you said, everyone's so different. And like, again, for your symptoms being that bradykinesia, that slowness. And I see it's a lot of like correlation of symptoms when it comes to that brain fog. Sometimes that slowness is there, the brain fog with the coordination. And sometimes people feel that fog or the mental clouding coming in.

[00:11:36] And then they know they're going to maybe not coordinate well. Then give some clues. I have to take my meds. My meds are wearing off. Or sometimes the physical comes first and then the fog comes later. And then a good percentage of people don't even get the warnings of like, hey, they're going down on their levels of meds. And they kind of just are kind of always in a fog. So it is unique that you go through that. I always tell people, you know, Parkinson's is like a slow evolution of a stroke where you feel like you can't coordinate.

[00:12:03] And so I feel like that's what people like you were describing. It's pretty unique. But let's say if you're excited about something, right? Like, let's say, of course, music may get you excited. But when you're doing something fun, does that also sometimes get you out of that brain fog or that bradykinetic moment? Yeah, I think it does. And that brings up a really important point, which is kind of the unseen or the invisible symptoms of Parkinson's, which I'm a lot more aware of now.

[00:12:32] And for me, that symptom has to do with motivation and apathy, right? And I think when I first started coming to see you as a doctor, I described that. And I think I described that. I actually felt that apathy before my diagnosis as well. And that's a hard thing. That's in some ways harder to deal with overall in life because, like you're saying, something that you get excited about, like playing the No Doubt concerts that we just did. We just did 18 shows at the Sphere in Vegas.

[00:13:02] So I was definitely excited about that. And that excitement kind of drove me to work hard trying to optimize myself to be able to perform those shows. So it was kind of like this, a great push of motivation, you know, motivating me to, you know, and the run up to those shows to eat right, to focus on, you know, lowering stress in my life, sleeping right, not drinking alcohol because I feel like that has a negative effect.

[00:13:28] Like exercising, rehearsing, like motivation of having those shows to look forward to something I was excited about definitely helped me push myself to get to the point to be able to perform the shows. And one of the interesting things that happened in the run up to those shows a few months before we started the rhythm section of the band, me, Tony, who's our bass player, Adrian, the drummer, we would get together in Adrian's basement and just do these rhythm section rehearsals

[00:13:55] where it was just the three of us in a very small, very loud little basement with, you know, hearing protector because it started so down loud, so darn loud down there. Our drummer, you know, drummers are very physical. That's a very physical job and they need to go all out to properly rehearse. So anyway, we did these basement rehearsals months before the shows came and because we're all dads, we're old now, we rehearse in the morning. Older, not old. Older.

[00:14:23] In the early days, you know, rehearsals always took place at night. Everything took place at night. Now we like, we get together, we drop the kids off at school and then 9 a.m. rehearsals. So on and off during those rehearsals, I would find the timing of my medications, like they would, my medication would wear off right in the middle of rehearsal. Even though I was excited to be there and I was motivated to play, but it was, it was actually helpful that that happened because, you know, it helped me realize that when my

[00:14:51] medicine wore off, I couldn't stand and play. I could barely play. I had to sit down. Did your bandmates notice that, like that you weren't performing to your level or is that something that you internally felt? I kind of internally felt it. I think they may have noticed it a little bit, but I was definitely feeling it. And I, you know, I would take my medication and I have this inhaler, this imbresia that I could take that kind of helps, helps it come on more quickly. And then the medication would kick back in during rehearsals and I was fine.

[00:15:20] And in some ways it was scary to me because what it made me feel is like, oh my gosh, if my medicine wears off in the middle of the show, what am I going to do? You know, on stage and, you know, in the middle of a two hour show in front of 16,000 people with the whole show is synchronized to the giant video screen and everything, it really concerned me. And so it helped me work on kind of putting together a schedule and a disciplined way of taking the medication to time itself so that I could make it through the show and play.

[00:15:49] And I thought of all sorts of things, to be honest. I thought, do I need to hire another guitar player in case I stop on stage for him to come in and fill in for me? I consumed that for a long time. What we did is because we started these rehearsals months in advance, when we got to the full band rehearsals on a soundstage, by that point I had kind of perfected my medication timing and in those rehearsals, I was fine. The whole practice part of it. And I mean, I'm sure, you know, there's always going to be something that can be thrown in

[00:16:18] and put a wrench into a performance. But, you know, the fact that you practice and you, you know, studied how your body reacted I think those are key things that, again, you were disciplined. You know, you're watching probably now more about your sleep and your diet than ever because you were motivated. And I think those are the type of things that like we want to come across always for even patients is like you've got to keep to a certain routine no matter what it is, even if it's day-to-day routines, right?

[00:16:48] Like, you know, it's not necessarily that everyone's performing in front of 16,000 people. And I think even in that you performed in front of Coachella was like 85,000 people. I mean, there's different challenges and sometimes it's more mental than physical at times, right? It is. It is a lot of mental. And a lot of it is, you know, in some ways, it's good that, you know, that Coachella, the two Coachella shows were in 2024. And that was the first time No Doubt had played in, I think, nine years.

[00:17:15] That was the first time that I played, you know, with the diagnosis Parkinson's. And I didn't announce it publicly. And I kind of had gone through the same process there. And I was so scared and worried. But, you know, I think the thing that I've done, and I'm sure a lot of people with Parkinson's do over the years as they kind of navigate this disease is I really try to listen to my body.

[00:17:41] And I try to notice what happens with my diet, you know, how my diet affects my level of hydration. It's like those little things every day, you know, in my sleep. And what is it that causes me the medicine to wear off? You know, what stressors impact my medication? Because sometimes I still have kids at home and sometimes getting, I've probably told you this, getting the kids ready in the morning for school and sometimes that rush of trying to wake the kids up, get them breakfast, get everything ready. There's that time constraint.

[00:18:11] And that sometimes gets stressful in the mornings. I'm sure most families have that. And man, that will sometimes just kill my medication. I take my medication at six in the morning when I wake up early. And by the time the kids have gone to school, like it's like the bradykinesia and the brain fog all come roaring back. And I start over again. And it's interesting you say that, right? It's an everyday thing that we take for granted, but it is a burden on our nervous system.

[00:18:38] And again, maybe with Parkinson's, you see it more, you feel it more. I mean, I think MS patients, multiple sclerosis patients go through it as well. I see it with other conditions that are neurological, my steny or gravis. And then again, like you said, you got to reset, right? And you're putting up to challenges. And I think there's something about constraints, like time constraints, like those pressures, the self-inflicted pressures that we put on ourselves also that can also put us into an off state. It's the little things in life.

[00:19:06] And I often think of just the metaphor of a roller coaster, you know, and what I always recall is when, you know, there are these highs and there's the thrilling parts and then there are the lows, you know, and that happens in all of our lives. And it happens throughout the day. And what I always remind myself is when you're at the low part of the roller coaster, there's nowhere to go but not. And I think, okay, I just need to reset and start over and allow myself the grace to not

[00:19:33] let that pressure, you know, kind of build on itself and to, you know, release that pressure and find a way. And sometimes, you know, yeah, like after a stressful situation, I go out and go for a walk with no music and not listening to anything. Or even like I work out, I do Pilates two or three times a week and I've had the same Pilates trainer for 18 years now. And when I work out, when I exercise and sweat and I do not enjoy exercising, but when

[00:20:02] I do it, I feel so much better. And it does totally have that reset, that reset button hits and I can start over. And I think people with Parkinson's and actually anybody in life can learn that lesson, right? To find what you need to do to get back to that place where you're feeling better. And a lot of times for me, you know, part of my routine, like at the Sphere, was taking a nap every day at the same time. And I take big naps. I can sleep for an hour and a half.

[00:20:31] And that became part of my routine. And that really helped. And, you know, the one thing, a lot of folks with Parkinson's have trouble sleeping. And so I'm very fortunate that that isn't. My superpower happens to be sleeping. So I can lay down. I would do it at the shows at the Sphere. So we would get to the venue every day at 5 p.m. and soundcheck for about 30, 45 minutes and then have dinner. And then I would go back.

[00:20:58] We each had, there was this long hallway in the bowels of the Sphere. And we each had our own dressing room, which was really nice. And I would go in my dressing room and I would turn the lights down low and I would put one of those sleep masks and I would just lay down quietly. Like the way I hyped up for the show was actually just kind of like laying there in darkness and in quiet. And then I would hear Adrian's dressing was next door and he was cranking great music. All of a sudden the hip hop would go or the heavy metal or punk rock or ska or whatever.

[00:21:28] He would crank the stereo. And that was fine. But we all find those little, little things, you know, beyond the medication is an incredible tool that, you know, makes living with Parkinson's possible, to be honest. In between that, it's all the little things we do, the little habits. And I, you know, I keep working at it every day. Every day, you know, there's that struggle of like that, a little bit of a roller coaster of on and off. What's going to cause me to... What has been those overcoming, those challenges?

[00:21:55] What have been those overcoming situations offstage? And strangely enough, it's the littlest of things. And I don't know if that's me or my own anxiety, but it can be really small things that's, it's like my stress thresholds, like so tight. So it could be anything. If I have an interaction with anyone who's not like a close friend, if I, if I have to go to the supermarket, I don't know why my wife likes to order groceries online, you know, a bad habit we got into during COVID, right? But I like to go to the grocery store.

[00:22:25] It's just a habit of mine and I don't mind it. But if I have to like, if I bump into a neighbor at the grocery store and I have to like make small talk and it's people I like, I don't mind running into people. But for some reason, just the simpleness of that interaction can be a lot. I'll get home from the grocery store and I'll just have to lay down on the sofa for a while and vegetate. And I try and try not to scroll my phone as a way to cope because I feel like that goes... Yeah, you can start doom scrolling on that. Doom scrolling. Yeah, I try to avoid.

[00:22:55] I think that doom scrolling is like cheap dopamine. It's the bad kind. And it feels good in this moment. And then a half an hour goes by and I think, what am I doing? It's interesting, though, because I think that this is the perspective that I wanted to share with many others that are also dealing with Parkinson's is sometimes it is these mundane things that make us tired and fatigued. And we've got to figure out what those are. And like you had commented so eloquently is that, you know, sometimes you have to tone down things. We need to decompress.

[00:23:23] We need to get out being with nature and not have the normal noise that's around us. And sometimes people think we got music in our ears so we can relax. And, you know, sometimes also that quietness. So each to their own has to figure out what brings them up or down. And since we were talking about your wife and you're talking about, you know, habits during COVID, do you mind sharing what role your family, your friends? Your support system has played through your journey. You know, obviously a huge part of our lives. I'm very, I'm very fortunate.

[00:23:53] And number one, my wife, she kind of has the perfect balance. She definitely understands what I'm going through and she gives me the grace and the space to do what I need to do every day. So she's, she's very helpful on that level. Like she's very understanding. And then on the flip side, she also doesn't let me use Parkinson's as an excuse either. Sometimes, you know, sometimes we make a plan to go out to a party or something and

[00:24:21] I'm like, I don't really feel like, oh, you know, she also doesn't let me get away with too much. So, you know, and it is a perfect balance. And my kids, you know, it's funny when I was diagnosed, the kids were still kind of little and I remember we told them and it was kind of a big deal to tell them, you know, when I was diagnosed, I had this idea that I'm just going to tell everybody. You know, I feel like to me, it's just easier to be open and honest. Of course, I didn't tell the public, but all my friends and family. And so we told the kids, oh, I've got diagnosed with this disease.

[00:24:51] It means this, that. And kids don't know what Parkinson's is. You know, they, you know, I think one of them asked, well, is it, is it going to, you know, are you going to die? No, it's not going to kill me or not anytime soon. So don't worry about that. And so I think they didn't really react in a big way because they didn't really understand what it was. And I think they just see me, I'm just dad. And if dad is, is moving slow, that's just how dad is. So it's kind of like, it's like second nature to them in a way, you know, to be honest, I

[00:25:21] do have some regrets, a big symptom of Parkinson's for many people. And for me as well as fatigue. And this is kind of a fatigue is a negative part of being parent. And I think all parents have fatigue, especially in those early years when you're, you have babies and can't sit down, you have toddlers running around. But that fatigue for me is real. And so sometimes I, I beat myself up a little bit. I'm like, the kids get home from school and I'm just too tired to say like, hey, let's go ride skateboards or let's go throw a Frisbee.

[00:25:50] And sometimes I just don't feel, I just don't feel like doing that. And my wife is, has picked up the slack and my kids are fine, you know, but it's, that's, you know, that's one of the hard realities that we have to deal with. So sometimes we, you know, I'm the same person, but I'm not, you know, Parkinson's takes away something. It's definitely tough. And, you know, I think many people can own up about that fatigue and they can't really describe it, but it's deep and it's hard to like get out of it.

[00:26:18] And sometimes even medicines taking it may not get you out of that initial moment of that fatigue, right? Yeah. And I think, you know, fatigue ties in, in my mind with motivation and apathy. And sometimes like I'll be just laying on the, on the sofa here and thinking like, I got to go do this thing upstairs. And I, you know, I got to change the batteries. There's little, like you said, mundane things in the house. I got to go pick up the dog poop in the backyard, but I'll just lay on the couch and I'm just like, I just can't get up and do it.

[00:26:45] And there was like, and I, and I don't know, is that just Parkinson's? Is that my apathy? Or is that just being, is that just me? Or is that sometimes there are gray areas. What about those moments where like all of a sudden you come out of that fatigue state? Like, does that happen just by itself? Does it happen because of medicines? Does it happen because it just like something kicked in? Is it food or snacks or anything? Like what, what brings you out of it usually?

[00:27:15] Support for this podcast comes from Crexont Carbidopa and Levodopa Extended Release Capsules. If you'd like to learn more about Crexont, ask your healthcare provider or visit crexont.com, where you'll find full product information, including the prescribing information. To learn more, visit crexont.com. That's C-R-E-X-O-N-T dot com. That's a, that's a good question because I do snap out of it.

[00:27:45] And there are times when I'll, I'll motivate, I'll, I'll self-motivate and I'll get up and maybe the kitchen is like full of dishes and like pots and pans that need scrubbing. And sometimes I'll like, okay, I'm just going to start. And then 10 minutes into doing dishes, I start to feel good. And there's something about something satisfying about like, I'm getting the dishes, the kitchen's getting clean. And that motivation, like that dopamine somehow kicks in. And I think of that sometimes as, is not the cheap dopamine of doom scrolling,

[00:28:14] but this is the positive dopamine of like, I'm doing this task. Yeah, it's mundane and nobody likes doing dishes. But you know what? I'm kind of good at this. And I load the dishwasher just right. And I'm really scrubbing that cast iron pan in a, in a way that there's like these little moments of reward and satisfaction and, and they're the littlest things and that feels good. And so as a part of that rollercoaster, when, when I'm at the bottom of the track and I'm

[00:28:39] not feeling motivated and I'm feeling apathetic, if I can motivate and kickstart myself to go do something, it feels great. And so, you know, it's what we struggle with right throughout the day. And we all, I think we all have it. Parkinson's makes it more extreme. Do you feel like sometimes as playing the guitar or playing any, any other music gets you also out of the apathy or is that a separate situation? It's kind of separate. You know, I'm going to be honest about that one as well.

[00:29:06] I feel like one of the things that I'm going to blame this on Parkinson's, the one of the things that Parkinson's I think has taken away is a lot of my love for performing on a certain level, the love of, you know, just playing the guitar around the house. And I've got a little recording studio upstairs, you know, a bedroom recording studio. And for years I used to go in there and just, you know, just compose and record little ideas. And I haven't been doing that very much in the last number of years.

[00:29:35] It's just, I'm not motivated to do it. And on a certain level, I could grieve that and I could be sad about it. But on another level, I try to be honest with myself and say like, okay, I don't have the same love for playing the guitar or for creating music that I used to. But you know what, I do have this newfound love. Like I picked up a hobby of photography or I have a love of, I love surfing and I have these other things that I love to do.

[00:30:03] And those things, what I do is I try to just lean into the things that do motivate me and not worry and not grieve the things that don't motivate me. Actually, since the Sphere, you know, my kids came to almost every Sphere show and they loved it so much and had so much fun with all the other kids of the other band members. They're all just like this other secondary family. And one of my boys, since that time, got really inspired and he's learning guitar and he's

[00:30:30] learning to play bass and he's fallen in love with punk rock music and discovering something that he loves. He's 15 years old. And seeing him find that thing has something that really motivates me. Helping him, you know, lean into, I'll take him to, you know, these all ages punk shows and I'll be the dad in the car, you know, outside of the pizza place in downtown LA when he's in there in the slam pit. And that fills me with a lot of happiness to see him loving something. And so I go with that.

[00:30:59] Anything that feels good that motivates me, I lean into that. And I try not to stress myself out about the music aspect. The fact that I've kind of lost, I've lost my spark there for the moment. Now that doesn't apply to the No Doubt shows. That was a huge spark and a huge fire that really, you know, the No Doubt shows at the Sphere in particular, like I was explaining earlier, I was so worried about being able to perform on stage. I'm so worried about my medicine wearing off and all that.

[00:31:25] But what was amazing is it ended up being so much fun and going so well that I feel like like there was doing those shows game gave my dopamine stores like their own momentum in a way. My medicine didn't wear off once for all 18 shows. Like I made it through every show as well as I could have hoped. And I think there was something about, again, the excitement and the motivation of like going up and doing a good job.

[00:31:50] And I was so excited to do it every night and so happy to be back and playing with my friends in the band and being in that environment. Like it's almost like playing the shows made me be able to play the shows. I'm a big fan of yours and the bands. And I was fortunate enough to come see you guys play and perform. And I couldn't tell that there was any Bradykinesia. And again, like I can spot someone from a mile away. And I thought you rocked out and it was amazing.

[00:32:17] And again, I think you were very inspirational for even me coming back. Like after seeing one of your shows, even on coming back on a Monday, I was like pumped. I was like ready to go. And I was telling people like in my team here, like, all right, guys, like it's going to be a great Monday. It's going to be, you know, let's get hyped. Like kind of that energy kind of exuded even in multiple levels, you know? So I feel like someone like yourself is can be such a big hope. And I do think that you don't have to rely on what got you there or got you to a level

[00:32:47] of being a professional. Like you're finding new hobbies. You're finding new gifts, new talents. And I think that's very important to find those joys. As we think about like someone else who maybe like someone who's new to Parkinson's and they're thinking about maybe when they get that diagnosis, what it means to maybe give up the things that they love. What advice do you have for someone like that? Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:33:12] I think I would just say like, look, everyone's path is going to be different. You know, some people are going to, some people have it a lot worse than I do. I've been really fortunate. But what I will say is, you know, I was diagnosed eight years ago or almost nine years ago. Looking back, I probably had symptoms going back 15 years, if I'm being honest and looking back, you know, before I was diagnosed. So I've been living with this for a long time.

[00:33:37] And it's taken away some things from me, but it's also given me the ability to focus on what is really important. It helps you prioritize. And if my story can be, can give someone hope, the idea that nine years into a Parkinson's diagnosis, I was able to perform, you know, a couple of the biggest stages in the world in like a very high stakes environment. And I made it happen. I pulled it off and there were no tricks. It was just, you know, it was, it was great medical care.

[00:34:06] It was me paying attention to health, diet, exercise, all that stuff that I described earlier. But I did it. I made it happen. And I feel like that, that is an example that people can use to remember that they're not going to lose everything and they can still accomplish great things. Everyone can still hopefully accomplish something great in life. Like if I did it, maybe that helps give a little push to someone to think that they can do something like that too. They're truly resilient.

[00:34:35] And I think that that's a great message because again, each person is different and each person will share their story in different ways. But at the same time, life is a gift and I always tell people now more than anything is, you know, you die once, you live every day. So you really have to live every day. You know, you can't live on that fear of that one moment. You know, you got so much more to do, to be a part of, whether it's friends, family, and then again, new goals, new professions.

[00:35:04] So I appreciate, appreciate your time today and sharing your story and reminding us that Parkinson's may change one's rhythm of life, but it doesn't have to silence our music, right? So to everyone listening, your passions, your purpose, your identities is still yours to embrace. And again, I want to thank you, Tom, for the time today. And we really appreciate your courage, your endeavors. And for anyone who learned anything from this podcast and this conversation that we had today,

[00:35:32] please share it with others so that others can find their deeper meaning as well. So thank you again. Great. My pleasure. And thank you, Dr. Takara. You're welcome. Thank you.