Michael J. Fox Never Giving Up Hope
COVER SNEAK PEEK: Michael J. Fox Never Giving Up Hope
Ten years after shocking the world with the announcement that he has Parkinson’s, Michael J. Fox is aggressively fighting the disease – and says he still sees a bright future ahead.
“Based on how I feel now,” the star tells PEOPLE in its new issue, “I’ll be okay for at least 10 more years.”
Since leaving Spin City in 2000 – two years after revealing his Parkinson’s diagnosis on the cover of PEOPLE magazine – Fox, 47, has been focused on raising his four kids with wife Tracy Pollan, 48, and helping The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research pour $140 million into fighting the disease.
Fox has found a successful combination of medications to keep his symptoms under control. But, he says, the progression of the disease is unavoidable, and “at some point every day” he enters a state of what doctors call “bradykinesia” – in which his arms hang heavy at his side.
But the actor tells PEOPLE he doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him. In fact, Fox says, having Parkinson’s “is part of an amazing life.” And it’s not “an otherwise amazing life,” he clarifies. “It’s part of what makes my life amazing.”