"I can't predict on any given day how I'm going to be," said [Thomas Graboys]. "The [Parkinson]'s is not simply Parkinson's alone; it is Parkinson's with pieces of Alzheimer's [disease]. That lack of predictability makes this a challenging clinical problem."

'[Tom]'s ability to communicate had clearly taken a hit, so we had many conversations where I left not sure of what I was going to be able to extract," said [Peter Zheutlin]. "But I realized that what seemed disjointed might not be, and I looked for connections. As best I could, I wanted to portray the experience as he was living it, and to do it in a way that people reading the book would say, "That sounds like Tom.'"

"I am continually humbled by hearing patients' stories, and that is a privilege," he said. "I want people [with Parkinson's disease] to realize that they don't have to and shouldn't go it alone. The issue is not dying from Parkinson's, but living with it, and I want to find the best way of doing that."