It’s been decades since Michael J. Fox received his life-changing Parkinson’s diagnosis, but the actor remembers that day well. In a recent interview, the actor admitted that he and his wife, fellow “Family Ties” alum Tracy Pollan, only shed tears together over the news when they first heard it and never again.
“So very early in the marriage she got this [diagnosis] dumped on her,” Fox told “CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson. “And the moment that I told her I was realizing was the last time we cried about it together. We haven’t cried about Parkinson’s since. We’ve just dealt with it and lived our lives. But we cried about it that first time.”
He went on to describe what it felt like looking ahead to an uncertain future.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” the actor continued. “We didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t know. You know, no one could say when it would have more effects. More symptoms than what I had, which was a twitch, twitching pinkie. But they [doctors] just said it was coming.”
Fox kept his diagnosis a secret for seven years before announcing it publicly. During the same interview, the actor detailed how the disorder has affected his everyday life. However, living with Parkinson’s has forced him to appreciate the small moments even more.
“I have a wheelchair that I use every now and then and it still sucks. I have a hard time getting to a restaurant and up the stairs to where my family’s eating perhaps at a dinner. But then I’m there with my son and my three daughters and my wife, and friends of ours. And it’s just like, that’s great,” Fox said.
The Hollywood star detailed how living with Parkinson’s has forced him to approach life in a totally different way. And it’s made him more introspective.
“I thought, ‘Who am I to tell people, cheer up? Who am I to tell people it’s gonna be okay? Who am I to tell people ‘Have a positive attitude,” Fox said. “You really got to go to that and check that place and say, ‘Is that just something I say? Or is that something I believe?’ If it’s something I believe, is it something I can live? And if I can live it, is it fair for me to ask others or suggest to others, or prescribe that others look at it the same way?”
Despite these setbacks, the “Back to the Future” star said he can be accurately described as optimistic about the future, which is just part of his personality.
“And I really felt I just felt so much weight of that public persona being Mr. Optimist,” Fox continued. “And I still am Mr. Optimist. And I knew and in some small way, I knew in that moment, as dark as it was, that I would get back to that at some point.”
The “Back the Future” star has remained grateful for all the blessings in his life despite being diagnosed with a degenerative disease. The title of his memoir is, “Lucky Man.”