Blog
More than 12 years ago, Mark Schroder, then a board member of Tri-State Parkinsons & Wellness (TPW), a predecessor to Parkinsons Support & Wellness (PSW), asked me to join the board of directors of TPW. Mark knew that my late father had Parkinsons so he expected I would be interested in working with TPW. As TPW has evolved into PSW, I have had a wonderful and rewarding experience serving on these boards.
Eighteen years ago, when my husband was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, he forbade me to tell anyone for two years. He argued that it was his disease and therefore his story to tell at the time of his choosing. The fact that Parkinson’s Disease had happened to him was clear, but it had happened to me, too. It had happened to us.
The group for newly diagnosed Parkinson's patients continues to be a success story. I am forging ahead with a proposed regular date and time, and several participants have said they are looking forward to continuing the group. I also was contacted by a local physical therapist who has two newly diagnosed patients interested in joining a group. I never thought I would be in a leadership role, but this is one gift that Parkinson's has given me.
When a new diagnosis of Parkinson's is handed down, there is always someone who is surprised. No matter how much you may have known deep down that it was probably Parkinson' s, most of us are still surprised -- even horrified -- to be told we have a degenerative, incurable disease. How can we live with that?
Growing up in a wonderful, loving and caring family as the eldest of three siblings (brother Dave, and sister Becky) my parents instilled in us the importance of "being kind to everyone you meet because you never know what battles people are fighting" along with love, determination, goal-setting, religious beliefs and responsibility to name a few.
