Parkinson’s Disease Blogs

Seeing as April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, I thought it would be fun to see what type of Parkie you are.  Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease over 11 years ago… Geez. I guess it’s true what they say, “Time flies when ... read more

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Maybe there were special awareness months in previous years, but this year has eclipsed them all with dire intensity that erases memory. It’s been one heck of a year. Mrs. Dr. C and I have managed by functioning harmoniously (most of the time) to help each other. So, what do I say to someone if ... read more

Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. Fred Rogers Are you ready to go back into the world? After 13 months of some level of self-quarantine, it is definitely time to think about how we can return to some sort of normalcy. It is actually quite miraculous how we ... read more

Have you checked out the Resources page of this blog recently? Readers keep adding to it all the time. It now contains over 40 factual, well-thought-out resource links, especially for those of us who are 60+ and dealing with the increasing demands of Parkinson’s. Examples: Inheritance and IRA Guide is chock full of information about planning for and preparing your will, ... read more

The most beneficial action that you can make in your life is to take charge and get as healthy as you can. ... read more

“You can help me or hinder me but you won’t stop me.” I read that quote somewhere this past week. You’ll have to forgive me, or should I say you’ll have to forgive my faulty Parkinson’s memory. It is the culprit that causes me to forget the things I sometimes would like to remember. Forgetfulness aside, when I read that ... read more

Once again, it's World Parkinson’s Day! How are you going to educate and increase awareness of Parkinson's Disease today? ... read more

I wrote this poem years ago to help the students at my school understand the concept of metaphor. The boys at my school all wear plaid neckties. I lost track of the poem, then found it this week in a folder I wasn’t using. I circulated it among the ELA (English Language Arts) teachers, and one teacher said I should ... read more

Daffodils rising in our backyard this week. Our deck and terrace end right at the start of this hill. The post Backyard Parking Suns appeared first on Parking Suns. ... read more

I miss the person I was as I dance around the person I am, and I try to figure out who I am becoming. Mine is an ambiguous loss. A loss that’s hard to understand with Parkinson’s disease. It is hard to be on this side of my life. I often feel like I am fading away into nothing. It ... read more

I initially started this column by writing about my menopause journey and trying to add some levity to it. This was after my friends jokingly “welcomed me to the party.” However, as I continued writing and researching, I realized there may be more to the menopause story when it comes to the estimated 3 million women worldwide diagnosed with Parkinson’s ... read more

Last weekend, I was exploring a South Carolinian swamp when my phone buzzed. It was my dad. “Call me after 2,” the text glowed on my phone. “OK,” I responded. After I’d wiped the swamp juice from my shoes and peeled back my muddy socks, I dialed my dad. Usually when he asks me to call him, he’s all business. ... read more

April is Parkinson’s Disease Awareness month, as you know by now. Let me take you on a little history lesson in regards to L-Dopa, the “gold standard” for Parkinson’s treatment, that hasn’t changed hardly at all in 51 years. Yes, you read it right. 51 goddamn years. It is still considered the “gold standard” treatment today. The first clear ... read more

“It must be borne in mind that most Parkinsonian patients remain mentally alert even as their physical condition becomes severely impaired. At the same time, they are normally extraordinarily self-conscious about their infirmities. … Tremors, speech impediment, walking difficulties, all make one not only impatient with oneself, but also often ill-at-ease with others.” — F. M. Howard *** Recently, a ... read more

Positive thinking and hope can help people get through the most traumatic of events. #MotivationMonday ... read more

It was a warm afternoon on the last day of March 2020. I was inundated with winged creatures hovering up and over me, fluttering to and fro, and flapping up and down in my backyard. They included everything from ladybird beetles yielding black spots on yellow shields for wings to soft, peaceful butterflies flitting among the trees. Birds busied themselves ... read more

Monday 5 April 2021 So I’ve decided to take the plunge. I applied to three MSc courses in London for the academic year starting in September 2021. Fairly quickly I got two unconditional offers, from King’s College and Birkbeck, plus an interview request for a bioinformatics course at Imperial College. I decided that King’s was the better choice for a number of ... read more

As almost all of us are still housebound thanks to Covid, one thing we can still do is participate in Parkinson’s research projects that we can complete at home. On April 15, the Michael J Fox Foundation is hosting a webinar that will focus on the various ways you can participate in critical research. Click here to register and ... read more

The painting below is The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher’s Stone by Joseph Wright. It depicts German alchemist Hennig Brand’s discovery of phosphorous. Made in 1771, it came right at the tail end of the Enlightenment, a period that Europeans look back on as the age when they gave birth to the modern world. The work is a ... read more

“Dr. C seems better these days, don’t you think?” Neo asks Mrs. Dr. C. Neo is the inner part of Dr. C’s brain that shares his insights on Parkinson’s disease, science, and general well-being. Mrs. Dr. C agrees. “Since we moved to where winter snow doesn’t linger into April, he’s out gardening more. We do our walks in the yard ... read more

As we roll into April, and Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, I just wanted to take this opportunity (kinda like I do every year) to share a little Parkinson’s disease info. Forgive me if I have talked about some of this stuff before, but frankly some of it, if not all of it, bares repeating. Parkinson’s disease is an incurable, ... read more

You’ve likely seen numerous tips for making your life more organized and easier to navigate. Well, the following are tips I have found that can make life easier if you live with Parkinson’s disease. Begin by making your home safer. Pick up anything off the floor that may be a tripping hazard. Find a better place to store it. For ... read more

It’s not often that I don’t have any words to express how I am feeling. I have lost a close friend. Her name was Sharon. I called her Shar-Bear.  She called me Amazing Allison, but truthfully, she was the amazing one.  I met her at the Parkinson’s Long Beach Marathon over 10 years ago.  She and her husband, also known as Jer-Bear, were ... read more

Peter Anthony Fields, one of this blog’s readers, sent me news of a play he recently wrote, titled “That Guy,” and I bought it on Amazon.  I’ll copy the book’s back cover summary here, then dive into my review. Summary from the Back Cover A playwright who receives inspiration by interacting with the imagined characters from the play that ... read more

Self care starts and ends with you! If you don't do it, who will? #MotivationMonday ... read more