In October 2015, journalist Javier Pérez de Albéniz was confirmed to have Parkinson’s, a chronic neurodegenerative disease that progresses progressively and, among other symptoms, causes tremors and affects motor skills. The author of the book Los reverses. A personal story about Parkinson’s and ping-pong, 62, speaks to La Vanguardia and explains how he dabbled in table tennis in search of therapy and ended up hooked to the point of competing in remote towns in Spain and playing the final of a international championship in Berlin.
How is a Parkinson’s diagnosis managed?
I try to be practical, not to think more than I should and dedicate myself to other things. In fact, I have not gotten too into knowing the details of the disease. At first, I swore to myself not to go to Wikipedia and Internet pages because I knew that I was going to be confused, that I was going to misread them and overwhelm me. Since then, I have done very little. It’s better to let people know. I know how the disease works, I know my medication just enough, and that’s enough.
In more than twenty years working for El País and El Mundo, you have written reports from very remote places, such as the Everest base camp or a scientific station in Antarctica. How have you adapted to this new reality?
In a bad way. When I think about it I get angry and feel bad. But I’m taking it. I try to lead a life as similar as possible to how I led it before, always organizing myself well with the medication. I can go out in the morning for a long bike ride but I know that after eating I have to take it easy. And considering possible things. I don’t want to go to Everest Base Camp anymore. Now by going out for a walk in the countryside near home I manage. There are days when I’m better and others worse. I know how the situation is, how the disease is and how things are. But I try not to think about how it progresses. It doesn’t suit me. I have to carry on in the best possible way, have as much fun as possible, go out with friends, go on a trip, do the things I like. Try not to think about the disease, because it doesn’t lead anywhere. It’s very difficult, because he talks to you constantly. It screws and squeezes you all the time.
Is ping pong a way to cling to the fun side of life?
Yes, because it’s not only fun, but it’s also good physically. When I started with Parkinson’s, they told me that there were only two ways to stop the development of the disease: medication and sports. This does both. It’s cheap, fun therapy and it’s worked for me. Table tennis is the key to my book, almost more than Parkinson’s. Because it has practically saved my life in these years. It has been very good for me physically, for my head and also to isolate myself, to see how I could improve in many aspects, to entertain myself and a lot of other things. After playing in the Berlin championship, a lot of people called me to ask me. Where I live, there have been people with Parkinson’s who have contacted me and who are already playing for my club. They are hooked. People who start playing note that it is good for them and they cannot stop doing it.
What is it that makes it addictive?
It is a fun sport, with a lot of action. There are people who want to run or swim. That bores me deeply. I like competitive sports, where you play against someone. It is a sport that is practically infinite. NASA once said that it was the most complicated sport at a professional level. I was able to understand this as I practiced it. You think that you are playing very well, improving a lot and one day suddenly all that falls to the ground. Sport shows you that you don’t know anything, that you’re just starting out. They say you don’t really know what table tennis is until you’ve been playing it for three years. And that what you do before that is not table tennis, it is something else. All that difficulty stimulates you a lot. You also improve physically. When I play ping pong I notice that I am almost like when I did not have the disease. When I’m at a table, I’m like before. Surely slower, clumsier and a lot of bad things. But I feel that I am fine, that I can move. That comforts me a lot.
Is it for anyone?
Yes, it is a sport and also a game. It can be played from eight years to eighty. It is not very demanding if you are not. It is you who is asking for more from the game. You can set your own challenges and levels.
Do you use chemistry to your advantage so you can be at your best while playing?
Yes, I try to calculate when I am going to take the pill to be well when I train or compete. I’m playing all the time with this. My doctors won’t like it very much, but it’s done. In a competition much more, because you can’t stay off at the end of a game.
How important is winning?
Winning not so much, but competing I do like. You can approach it both ways. You can play just to have fun and feel good physically, even push yourself to make it a strong sport at a cardiovascular and training level; or compete. Once you compete, you get up at seven in the morning to travel far, you try to win. The problem is that in my case I am not improving as much as I would like because, while I am training more, learning more about the game and learning how to position myself better, I am also losing reflexes and physique. The same exercise that other people I train with works for me, it doesn’t go as well for me because my training progresses along with my physical deterioration. It is a pity. But I imagine that if I didn’t train and play, I would be much worse off. I try to counter one thing with the other.
And the food?
It’s the worst I have. Heavy meals cancel out the medication a bit. Above all, proteins must be avoided before pills. If I miss a little I’m annoyed. Yesterday I had dinner with some friends and then I ended up regular. The medication did not work 100%. But it made up for me.
Giving up those plans is not an option…
No, of course not. You have to always try to do what you want. Not lose the quality of life you had before. It costs, because it is not the same when it comes to moving. But you have to try. It is that if you give up things due to medication or illness, you would be dedicating yourself to it and it is about cornering it as much as possible. To dedicate yourself more to your things, to what you like and feel like… and the disease that bothers you a bit.
