I was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson’s about 8 years ago. It started with a tremor in my hand – my thumb actually. I went to the doctor and had all of the tests. Nightmare – why me? – was the question I asked, over and over again. I’ve now come to terms with it and am okay with it.
One of the first things I told my new girlfriend two years ago, was of my diagnosis. One day when I got home from work, she informed me that she had researched the disease on the internet. She had looked up the symptoms and the development of the disease. I was very surprised, but delighted – it meant a lot to know that she cared enough to investigate.
After my diagnosis, I joined the local Parkinson’s group. It was made up mostly of old people – those you would associate with the disease. I went to a few meetings, but felt out of place. One thing they did do for me though, was send me for a therapy called Conductive Education. I had six sessions, they educate you how to control your muscle tics by controlled movements – for example touching your thumb to each finger tip in quick succession, controlled writing, sitting down and standing up in a slow controlled way etc. The thing with Parkinson’s is your control goes and you lose clarity of writing and movement, and by repeating these exercises you retain control. Conductive Education is an excellent therapy and I think it would be useful for everyone with my mild form of Parkinson’s Disease to experience – I am not sure how successful it is for those with the more severe form, but I guess it would be worth a try.
