Chronic illness
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New Year’s Day is supposed to feel like a beginning.January 1 arrives with confetti and expectations—a collective agreement that we get to start over. My body did not get the memo. Parkinson’s doesn’t pause for fireworks or make resolutions at midnight. It doesn’t care what year it is. It measures time differently—by symptoms, by medication…
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Everyone wants a picture-perfect Hallmark movie Christmas, right? The house decorated inside and out, ready to win the neighborhood light-display prize. Right?But what we conveniently forget are the parts of the movie where the main couple has a dramatic breakup, or Grandma gets rushed to the hospital because she’s winded and everyone fears her heart…
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Every morning, I face my own private Olympic event: getting dressed. Take compression socks, for example. Once upon a time, I could just stand, bend, and slip them on. Now, thanks to Parkinson’s and balance issues, that’s no longer the case. Instead, I lay on my back, curled up like a rollie pollie, wrestling with…
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There’s nothing like a late-night visit to the ER to make you realize you’ve accumulated quite an extensive inventory of ailments, conditions, and diseases. This time, I went because of a surprise anaphylactic reaction to Penicillin VK. It had been prescribed to knock out whatever was causing my constant sore throat, cough, and laryngitis. I’d…
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The people in my life are my best medicine, and they are the meaning I can measure my life by.
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If you live with Parkinson’s, please hear me: do not take Benadryl.A few days ago, I had a massive, all-over itchiness that drove me crazy. Triple-digit heat had left me with a case of prickly heat, and I couldn’t stop scratching. My scalp itched so badly I tried using dandruff shampoo just for some relief.…
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They say laughter is the best medicine—and for the most part, I agree. But like many things in life with Parkinson’s, even something as joyful as laughter can become… complicated. You see, for me, laughter doesn’t always feel like a gentle release. Sometimes it’s more like a rollercoaster that I didn’t mean to get on.…
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So I dance. Not gracefully. Not even with confidence. But I shift my weight back and forth between two emotional poles, caught between caring too much and not caring at all. Some days, it feels like the worst of both worlds.
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Dear Friend, You didn’t ask for this. None of us did. But here you are—with a diagnosis that changes everything and nothing at once. And you told me. That matters more than I can say. I know how hard that moment can be—the words sticking in your throat, the fear of how it might land.…
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Social gatherings can be challenging when you’re living with Parkinson’s. (AND Fibromyalgia, Autism and similar conditions.) During this busy season of parties and events, I often find myself reflecting on how best to navigate these situations. I wanted to share an open letter I’ve written—something that helps put my experiences into perspective and might resonate…
I have Parkinson's. Parkinson's doesn't have me! 