Parkinson’s Disease Blogs

Sellers tore up the contract for our bid on a new home in Illinois. They wanted to accept a “better offer.” My wife and I are now homeless. Well, almost. We have a committed sale of the home we are in and we had started thinking of the Illinois place as “home,” but that home was gone. Some unexpected things ... read more

Wednesday 1 April 2020“Shall we FaceTime?” I asked.Rachel sounded surprised at my suggestion. I continued:“It will be much better if we can see each other. You might even be able to do some clinical tests.”After some faffing we managed to connect and we both spontaneously did that most human of things: we gave each other big smiles.“That’s much better, isn’t ... read more

In just a matter of days, our world has been turned upside down and around by an invisible and deadly invader. Many of us have turned to an online life of Zoom or Facebook Live. Whether it is for schooling, our occupation, support, workouts, weddings, births, or even funerals. Our life, from start to finish, […] ... read more

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.Christopher Reeve This month, April, 2020, I will be sharing the stories of some People with Parkinson’s (PwP’s) who are heroes for many of us. In February I wrote about A Different Kind of Parkinson’s Hero, highlighting several women with PD who ... read more

It was a cool day in Phoenix, Arizona, which is an oxymoron because it’s a desert that is known for seriously hot weather.  I mean if they call it “the valley of the sun” … well, you get the idea. My Dad and I were walking the dogs, obeying the CDC’s guidelines of keeping a 6-foot distance to prevent the spread ... read more

Many symptoms are representative of Parkinson’s disease, the more widely known being external tremors and an unusual gait — or “walking funny,” as some might say. There is one other less visible symptom that can be connected to having the disease: loneliness. Loneliness can be a shortcut to depression. What makes depression more volatile is to mix it with something ... read more

“Man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.” – Charles Darwin Remarkably soon after the Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, life emerged. Though the details are fuzzy, it seems a burst of energy struck a pond of primordial chemical soup, energizing a collection of compounds just enough to form ... read more

The late comedian Joan Rivers was known for saying “Can we talk?”. Unfortunately, most of us have forgotten what it means to actually talk to someone else and have a real conversation. We communicate in sound bytes, texts, tweets and lots of photos of ourselves doing things that probably should remain private. Can we talk? During this unprecidented time ... read more

If you’re in the same boat as my dad, chances are that your gym is on lockdown. Dad was disappointed to hear that Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) is pausing operations during the global coronavirus pandemic. But he also recognized that it’s the safest move. This global quarantine is really shaking up our routines, which can feel frustrating. But one of ... read more

Today’s news is yesterday’s news, and I am sick of yesterday’s news. I am more disturbed by the news now than I was five minutes ago. Let me clarify.  This news — specifically about the coronavirus — didn’t affect me as much before. I have been living in a bubble, and my bubble just burst. I have been living as ... read more

My chronic disease has forced me to stay home for a week after an exhausting recent trip to St. Louis. When my symptoms force me to curtail engagement outside the home, I become a “shut-in.” Many are entering voluntary home confinement due to COVID-19. People also are experiencing mandatory lockdowns by decree in several states. Confinement is probably a new ... read more

What is it about the ant way of life that has stood the test of time so well? All ants belong to extended families, and carry their prey home to share. Unselfishness is the rule. Everything they do is for their colony’s good.     Bill Mason Trends show that much of Europe and North America are about to ... read more

If you have Netflix, here is a list of some suggestions to consider: As we restrict ourselves from human interaction and search for binge-worthy material to entertain ourselves, I thought that I would share some of the programs that you might have missed. I tried to select mostly positive subjects or at least those that […] ... read more

Sunday 22 March 2020I chat to my neighbour, Jim, over the garden fence whilst I am trimming the shrubs. It is a sunny but fresh early Spring day and we are both doing the first bit of gardening this year, pre-empting the burst of growth that will ensue over the next couple of months. Nature is tenacious in her ability ... read more

Travel beyond our homes is eerie right now with the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. We feel as if we’re living a dystopian sci-fi film, with people in masks and gloves waving apocalyptic messages from the World Health Organization and U.S. federal and state governments. My immune system isn’t like it was when I was younger. I wear gloves for ... read more

Be Careful-Be Smart Change to the highest degree is here with rampant speed. It’s a new normal for us all. Social interaction and daily life as we know it will most likely change, forever. Change can be uncomfortable and difficult to accept. Only time will tell what our new normal is going to look like. […] ... read more

Oh, how the world has changed. It felt like we were just enjoying our lives, a week ago and now we have people hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer due to the Covid pandemic. It just shows how quickly life can change. I ... read more

Here is my latest post published yesterday on Parkinsonsdisease.net On the Road Not Taken By Sharon Krischer · March 17, 2020 illustration from Parkinsonsdisease.net“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost Each person with ... read more

This December marked the fifth anniversary of my diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. Technically, I am still in the honeymoon phase — the first three to eight years of the Parkinson’s journey. Life is still pretty normal. Then again, what is normal? Normal now consists of inconvenient symptoms including tremors, low blood pressure, rigidity, and anxiety. Oh, and lots of medicine. Taking ... read more

I have Parkinson’s disease and I live on a great big orb whose inhabitants have recently taken to biting their nails. They are also purchasing toilet paper, paper towels, water, and soap as if they are going out of style. Eggs are disappearing out of supermarket cold cases. Those suffering from the common cold or allergies will be hard-pressed to ... read more

I had surgery a month ago. While it was a minor, 15-minute procedure, I was more anxious about it than I was before a previous seven-hour deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Whether it’s 15 minutes or seven hours, any surgery or medical procedure can cause worry, fear, and anxiety. Many things can contribute to a good hospital experience as well ... read more

We are time travelers. Drifting along time and space, we shape our future with every present moment. Our memories of how we respond to this moment, as individuals, as societies and as a species, matters a great deal. It is the same for any species when threatened. No matter ape, bird or bacteria, these events force a change in behavior. ... read more

Sunday 15 March 2020Viruses are remarkable things. Little more than a fragment of DNA or RNA wrapped in a few proteins, they defy the normal view of a lifeform. A virus on its own is essentially dead – it does not breathe or assimilate anything; it has no nervous system or blood flow, or any function that we would associate ... read more

I really did not want to contribute to the conversation flooding the internet about the Novel Covid-19 (Corona) virus, but given the chain of events in the last 48 hours, it is somehow unavoidable. No one, including Mr. Twitchy and me, has been able to ignore it. Last week, we were in Washington DC for a conference. We flew ... read more

Sobbing, she throws her arms around me. “I just can’t take one more thing. I’m totally overwhelmed. All the things I need to attend to are flying around me, and as I try to grasp onto one, I come away empty.” She rests in my embrace and the storm slowly subsides. Lying with her is like being in the middle ... read more