Parkinson's Patient Donates Book Proceeds to PD Charities

Bill Schmalfeldt thought his story was worth telling. After being diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in 2000, having experimental deep brain stimulation surgery
in 2007, Bill wrote a manuscript about the experience. Not only could he not fi
nd a literary agent willing to even look at it, publishers rejected it without e
ven reading sample chapters. Believing the story needed to be told, Bill dug int
o his own pockets and took the self-publishing route. Now he's donating the auth
or proceeds to the PD organizations that helped him.
USA - June 28, 2010 -- After writing a book about his experience as a brain surg
ery volunteer, a Maryland Parkinson s disease patient believed his story would mak
e an interesting book. But after years of failing to interest numerous book agen
ts and getting rejection slips from publishers who didn t even request sample chap
ters, Bill Schmalfeldt decided to take matters into his own hands. Reaching into
his own pocket, he has self-published his story and is donating 100 percent of
the author s proceeds from the book s sale to help find a cure for this crippling, d
egenerative neurological disease.
" No Doorway Wide Enough is Schmalfeldt s personal story about living with a neurolog
ical disease that afflicts over a million Americans. 100 percent of the author p
roceeds will be donated to the National Parkinson Foundation and the Charles DBS
Research Fund at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
I was diagnosed at an NPF clinic in Miami and Vanderbilt s Neurology Department is
looking to expand their DBS clinical trial from its current 30 patients to a nat
ionwide trial involving hundreds, if not thousands of folks like me. I felt I sh
ould help any way I could, Schmalfeldt said.
The title comes from my days as a Navy hospital corpsman at the former U.S. Navy
Home in Gulfport, Ms., the 55-year old author said. I used to wonder why it was th
at some of the older folks tended to stop and size up a doorway before walking thr
ough. I did a spot-on impression of this effect for my friends at parties. Got l
ots of laughs. Now I know the reason for it.
Written in the style of a diary, Schmalfeldt weaves a tale that starts with bein
g diagnosed at age 45, why he decided to participate in an experimental clinical
trial that involved brain surgery, and his recovery and life afterwards. With a
wry and sardonic sense of humor and writing style, Schmalfeldt weaves an easy-t
o-read tale of his personal struggle with the disease, pulling no punches over h
is frustration over the mixed results of his surgery. It s the story of my Parkinso
n s decade 2000 to 2010, Schmalfeldt said.
This book is written not only for the Parkinson s disease patient, Schmalfeldt said,
but for anyone who knows, cares for, or loves someone who has this beast of a di
sease. The one thing I want people to take away from this book is that Parkinson s
disease is not a death sentence. It s a life sentence.
Schmalfeldt said that the book was also meant to highlight the importance of cli
nical trials in medical research. In 2007, Schmalfeldt volunteered for a clinica
l trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville to test the safety
and tolerabilty of deep brain stimulation in early PD.
Clinical trials are vital in the search for new treatments and cures in a variety
of diseases, said Schmalfeldt, who works from home as a writer-editor for the Cl
inical Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Without peopl
e volunteering to take part in this kind of research, scientists would have a mu
ch harder time finding new drugs, treatments and outright cures for the diseases
that have plagued mankind throughout the years.
Schmalfeldt learned about the clinical trial at Vanderbilt in the course of his
duties at NIH. I write and produce podcasts about the importance of clinical tria
ls, he said. What kind of hypocrite would I be if I saw a trial that I was qualifi
ed for and didn t participate?
This is Schmalfeldt s first try at non-fiction. His previous works, by the people , Und
rcover Trucker: How I Saved America by Truckin Towels for the Taliban, and Hunky Du
nk, are available at his author's website, Books O' Billy.
He blogs daily at My Parkinson's Diary.
Contact :
Bill Schmalfeldt
Deep Brain Publications
USA
443-691-4795
bill@parkinsondiary.com
http://books-o-billy.com
parkinson, parkinson's disease, PD, neurology, humorous stories, essays, persona
l story, deep brain stimulation, DBS