Parkinson's Disease - A Personal Story
PARKINSON’S DISEASE IS PERSONAL FOR US AT RIGHT AT HOME
Our Right at Home office has been serving clients in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and surrounding cities for almost six years now and more than a few of those clients have had Parkinson’s Disease (PD). I have known about PD most of my life. My grandfather had PD and eventually died from complications related to the disease. Mostly what I remember of him, from my 10-year-old perspective, was a man that wanted to reach out to his grandson and interact in some way. The look in his eyes told me that but his body was helplessly confined to a bed. I grew up in San Rafael and he lived in San Francisco, so we usually made weekly visits on Sunday to see him. His speech slurred, his ability to communicate and be understood was laborious. Probably the only time I can recall seeing my own dad cry would be Sunday afternoons after visiting grandpa. It was a helpless feeling and a difficult time.
PD is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra. Symptoms generally develop slowly over years. The progression of symptoms is often a bit different from one person to another due to the diversity of the disease. People with PD may experience tremors, mainly at rest and described as pill rolling tremor in hands. Other forms of tremors are possible: Bradykinesia, Limb rigidity, Gait and balance problems.
The cause remains largely unknown. Currently there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery. While Parkinson’s itself is not fatal, disease complications can be serious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rated complications from PD as the 14th cause of death in the United States. (citations taken from www.parkinson.org).
Along with medications, therapy, education, and innovative exercises, such as Rock Steady Boxing, one’s tools and abilities to live with PD is growing and improving. At Right at Home, we want to help with the awareness and funding efforts for the research that is going to continue to improve the lives of those that have PD.
This year the closest PD Moving Day event for Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties will be held at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose on June 1, 2019. If you would like to walk with us in honor of a loved one or for yourself or would like to make a donation, please visit our page using this link: https://movingdaywalk.org/event/moving-day-san-jose/participant/1425372/donate/
If you would like to know more about PD or the Parkinson’s Foundation, please visit: www.parkinson.org
