Like so many before me and many more that will be diagnosed in the future let’s just say it took a while! It took a total of 5 or so years before I was given the official diagnosis. With the sacred source that is Google and an educated guess on my part when the day came it was no surprise although I still felt like I’d been punched in the stomach when it came. You see there was still that seed of hope that maybe I was just suffering from anxiety that was impacting only one side of my body after all, hence the tremors. But no, better get used to this, and fast, I had Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. So prescription in hand I found myself dazed and constantly on the verge of rising panic sitting in the pharmacy of a large hospital. It took an age waiting for my first batch of tablets. The realisation that I probably would never have a medicated-free day ever again weighed down on me heavily.
Panic rising…get me out of here.
In hindsight I should never have gone straight from the consultant’s office to that pharmacy! Instead I should have gone into a clear space, preferably a beach and breathed deeply, cried maybe, even shouted as the waves kept moving and the birds kept circling and allowed myself that tiny space between the old me and the new me to just ‘be’. Anyway that never happened and I spent that precious time being buffeted by busy people and trying to decide would I need a pill cutter! That was nearly 4 years ago now and it has taken that long to properly adjust and accept the new me I suppose. The grieving process has been tough but I have grown so much as a person that I feel compelled to share my experience of living and enjoying life with Parkinson’s Disease.
Are there difficult days? Yes! Are there happy days? Absolutely!
Life is a journey whatever it throws at us and it’s a better more enjoyable journey if we can share it with people who ‘get’ us. I have found that although there is a big community of folk with PD it tends to exist online rather than face to face within our home communities. This is why blogs are a vital link to share, stay connected, be understood, learn and not feel isolated.
Many thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.
Parkinson's: Always Moving Forward 