Play the Ball Where it Lies

Well this morning I woke up extremely early and couldn’t fall back asleep. I decided that since I couldn’t sleep I might as well research some Syringomyelia things. As you all know I have a great affinity for the tremendously talented Bobby Jones. He and I have quite a bit in common as I researched his life and his affliction with Syringomyelia.

I discovered a very eerie fact about Mr. Jones when I watched a video about his life and his battle with SM. He was born on St. Patrick’s Day! If you have been following the blog for very long you might have realized that was the day that I was diagnosed with Syringomyelia. I knew that St. Patrick’s Day was a very definitive day for me but I thought maybe it was only because I was diagnosed with this on that day. It appears that I do have another correlation with it besides being Irish myself.

I also found out that Bobby Jones had some other things in common with me. He did begin to have symptoms by having a constant headache and tingling in the hands and feet. Mr. Jones ended up being bound to a cane and a wheelchair for much of his later life. For the first time ever I saw pictures of him in his braces and wheelchair. I always see very positive looking pictures of Bobby Jones and so this was a great deal of shock to me to see that he did have a very painful life toward the end.

In the video Bobby Jones’ grandson described a few conversations that he had with colleagues of his. One of the men asked Bobby if there was a cure for this and Bobby said, “yes there is a cure,” and his friend exclaimed, “What?!” and Bobby stated, “Death.” He also stated that in golf you must play the ball where it lies and he said with life it is the same. He said that was the last time they would discuss it and he never brought it up to him again. I am trying to take a different approach to this than Bobby Jones. I really want to put the word out there that this disease is real and it affects 8 in every 100,000 people. It is not very common and no living celebrity has been diagnosed with this disorder so we don’t have much press time. I just want to help find a cure for this because it’s not a very pleasant disorder to have.

His family has been a very prominent part of the SM research. They are advocates for the Chiari and Syringomyelia Foundation.  After watching the video I am more convinced that I have been given this disorder for a reason. I would love nothing more than to share my voice with everyone around the country to spread the word about this painful affliction. I would love to meet the Jones family to tell them my story and to let them know about my connection with Bobby Jones. Hopefully someday I will be able to do that.

I do plan to have a golf tournament this March (around St. Patrick's Day) to help with syringomyelia. If you are interested in helping PLEASE feel free to contact me. The tournament will be held in Central Texas. If you want to volunteer your time, money or sponsor the event you can contact me at mistijadesunshine@gmail.com. 

You can view the video of Bobby Jones here:  http://vimeo.com/5223929