Untitled chapter
THE UPSIDE OF PARKINSON’S.
Chapter 1: Self diagnosis, I knew I was right.
Yes, I know what you are thinking, “is she mad?’, where is there anything positive about having Parkinson’s Disease ?.”
Well, I’d like to show you there is an upside if you just pursue it. I have found mine and I hope I can help you find yours.I’m not pretending to have found a miracle cure, we all know there isn’t one, so far.I just want to share with you my way of coping and managing the illness.
It might not work for you as it does for me, but if you give it a try , you never know , it might help.
If, by telling my story, I can help even just one person and bring a smile to their face as they search for their upside, then it would have been time well spent.
So let me take you on my journey with the disease.
On the first of August 2011 I was diagnosed. I was ready for the diagnosis, I had guessed as much for some time, I knew all the symptoms as I had two uncles , one maternal and one paternal, suffering with the disease.I knew my chances were low at getting away with it,
Eight months prior to this I had been to see my GP and told him about my symptoms. I told him my thoughts, but he was sceptical and told me to go back in six months.
This is where I should have insisted on seeing a consultant, in hindsight it would have helped to have been diagnosed earlier.
However I returned to the GP eight months later , this time he agreed and sent me to see a neurologist.
This is where I got lucky.The consultant was fantastic.He put me on the right track for ways of thinking and behaviour to combat the disease.
I had only been in his consulting room for a few minutes, he asked me to do a funny movement with my finger and thumb and immediately said it was Parkinson’s Disease.
I will always remember his first words of advice. “ The best way to fight Parkinson’s is to keep busy , take up new hobbies, have a full social life and do physiotherapy.
He told me that the disease is not life ending, you don’t die from Parkinson’s but from what it might cause, e.g. pneumonia, heart conditions, breathing problems etc.
He gave me a big pack of information to read and asked me if I would be interested in helping with research. I didn’t hesitate in accepting, I reasoned that I had nothing to lose , if by chance someone found a cure, I would benefit from it.
Looking back I realize what a big help he had been to me. I have always been quite optimistic in my way of thinking, looking for the positive inside the negative, I decided at that moment I would fight this disease with all my strength.
It crossed my mind it could have been worse, Motor Neuron disease or Multiple Sclerosis or Cancer etc, just to name a few.
I said all this to my family at the weekend. I promised them I would fight it, that I wouldn’t just sit back and let the illness take over. I said I would try to stay positive. I also informed them of my intentions to volunteer for research programmes.
