“My diagnosis occurred about eight years ago.  This was after two plus years of misdiagnosis of my symptoms as essential tremor.  The first challenge was to learn more about PD, it’s causes, my short- and longer-term prognosis, potential mitigating interventions that were available, and efforts that are being made to improve treatments and ultimately a cure. 

The first decision I had to make was who would be in control of my situation: me or PD. I chose to be in control with accommodations when needed to adapt to the issues created by PD.  While my medical team was a good source of “scientific” information, the ” real life” came from my own research on the internet at sites like Michael J. Fox and the Parkinson Foundation.  This was augmented by networking with local PD organizations such as Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon.” 

I am grateful every day that my husband has adopted this positive can-do attitude. We don’t know where this journey will lead, but we are doing our best to find our way through. By focusing on what we can do rather than what we can’t, we are still able to live fully. Life can be good as long as we remain strong and remember that we need to define PD, not let it define us.