Actor Michael J. Fox refuses to be slowed down by his battle with Parkinson's disease - a neurological disorder that affects speech and mobility. He compares his nearly 18 year struggle with nursing an unruly child inside of him.
"It's like having a 4-year-old climbing on you all the time," the 47-year-old actor told Oprah on an episode of her talk show airing Tuesday. "And, so whatever you're trying to do, you've got this 4-year-old and you're... just trying to be patient and focus on what you need to do."
However, the former Family Ties star insists his inner turmoil will not stop him from living his life. "I'm a dad, I'm a husband, I'm an activist, I'm a writer and I'm just a student of the world," he says. "This is one fact of my life, but it's not the totality of my life. It doesn't define me."
The actor was diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease back in 1991, and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998, becoming a well-known advocate of Parkinson's disease research ever since. As the symptoms of the illness worsened he semi-retired from acting in 2000. The same year he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has since become the largest private founder in the U.S. of medical research into the disease.
