Keeping Your Life On Track Following a Parkinson's Diagnosis: A patient's Insight on Overcoming Daily Challenges

Abstract

Parkinson’s is a global issue and, as our population ages, a growing concern. It knows no boundaries and does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender or ethnicity. Neither does it discriminate in the daily challenges it presents to those of us affected – challenges that can have significant physical, social and emotional impact on the lives of Parkinson’s disease patients. I have found that following a framework aimed at empowering patients to take on an active and informed management role in their own disease in the context of an optimistic outlook, leads ultimately to an improvement in the most important goal of treatment for physicians and patients alike – improved quality of life. As physicians, we are not immune to the burden of disease and the daily challenges that illness brings. Young-onset Parkinson’s disease was a diagnosis that I was not prepared to hear at the age of 27 years, at the completion of my residency in family practice and as I was expecting my first child. The intermittent, mild rest tremor I had begun to experience 6 months prior had now evolved into a diagnosis of an incurable neurodegenerative illness. For almost a decade after my diagnosis, I concentrated on growing my medical practice and my family. During this time, the Parkinson’s continued to progress causing morning rigidity, debilitating dystonias, severe tremors and unmanageable insomnia. Along with the obstacles that developed in my personal and family life, the limitations I faced resulted in many occupational challenges, ultimately, leading to my early retirement from clinical practice after 12 busy and difficult years. As the Parkinson’s progressed, my ability to cope deteriorated, but ultimately, I had a paradigm shift – I came to realize that although the diagnosis was not within my control, the way I faced this challenge was mine to determine. Only with that shift in thinking was I able to begin to live well with this disease and thrive despite the limitations that it placed on me. I began to concentrate on maximizing my quality of life, because until a cure is found, the goal of all management efforts must be directed towards this end point. Both the motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease have significant negative impact on patients’ life experience [1]. Identifying the outcomes that matter most and addressing those issues in a disease that