The Faces of Parkinson's: An Anthology of Stories About Some Awesome Parkies!

By Connie Udell

American football icon Walter Payton made the famous quote, “We are stronger together than we are alone.” When it comes to the unknowns of hearing you have a disease that there is no known cure for called Parkinson's having a community of people to network with can make all the difference in your life! We know that those with Parkinson's (PD) don't always have identical symptoms. Medicines for one may not work as well for another. How someone adjusts to a life with PD is different from person to person. I always say with someone in your family has PD, than you have PD as well! There is a lot to navigate through when you have been diagnosed with Parkinson's. A supportive community of those with PD, their families and care givers can benefit from having others to talk to, to share ideas, to know that you are not alone! To learn from! The Faces of Parkinson's is a look at a variety of individuals with Parkinson's and their caregivers. Each presents a different perspective on the disease.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Aug 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781483417134

Book preview

The

FACES

of

PARKINSON’S

An Anthology of Stories About

Some Awesome Parkies!

Connie Udell

Copyright © 2019 Connie Udell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1714-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1713-4 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 07/24/2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the following people who contributed to this project. They helped gather the information and write the stories.

Connie Udell

Paula Schutt

Amanda Barber

Cathy Smith

Linda Honeysett

Doug Anderson

We would also like to acknowledge the Parkinson’s Foundation for providing us with a grant to support this Annual Parkinson’s Family Night Event.

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A thank you to Oak Park Place – Senior Living, Janesville for providing us a wonderful location for filming and for the lovely event space.

A special thank you to Barb Leonard, the artist of the front cover.

INTRODUCTION

In this book, you will read so many stories and experiences about the human, everyday part of Parkinson’s from all sides. From the caregiver, to the family members, friends, and those who live with their PD.

As you go through these pages, there will be moments of joy, sorrow, heartache, strength, and even humor. I am not sure why you picked up this book, but I believe the stories will stay with you.

How did this book come about? I will tell you a little tale about my Mom and her PD that I hope explains.

I remember my first conversation with my mom about her Parkinson’s disease. It was on a walk at the Botanical Gardens near the end of the 1990’s. I was visiting from out of state and she asked if I wondered about her tremors in her hand, as it was new from the last time I had been home.

She told me it was from Parkinson’s and was no big deal. In fact, she joked, it got her out of being a deaconess at church. She told them that she couldn’t be trusted to hold a communion tray of liquid or bread. That was about the extent of it and to not worry. She was still incredibly active with her horseback riding, senior center activities, line dancing and more. So, I never questioned it really at the time and I don’t recall looking