Someone asked me about my Parkinson’s today

After several weeks of our holiday, we have had a balance of time with family and time on our own.

Currently we are staying at my sister-in-law’s farm and having a family weekend. It has been six years since we have all been together and two children have been born into the family since we were last in the UK.

We had an outing together today on a lovely sunny day checking out a local attraction and walking along a local canal. At one stage I was walking alongside our nephew and having a chat. He brought up the subject of my Parkinson’s and how it affects me. He also asked what the signs were that lead me to think I had Parkinson’s. He had been the first person who really asked me directly about this. It was good to have someone express an interest in my condition and give me the opportunity to talk about it. He seemed genuinely interested and wanting to know how I was doing. Sometimes it seems like perhaps people may be hesitant to ask and don’t know how I might feel about things to do with my diagnosis. Perhaps they think this will upset me? I talked about the road to diagnosis and he asked me a few questions along the way.

I appreciated his interest and his openness to my talking about how life is for me. I was happy to tell him that I am managing life with Parkinson’s quite well. I talked about my blog and how much it helps me. I also spoke about how I have some followers who comment regularly on my posts.

We also talked about our current holiday and why we have taken such a long time off work. I told him that this is an opportunity to experience things that may be difficult in the future if mine or my husband’s mobility deteriorates. While I do not spend much time projecting my thoughts into the future, we know mobility will be an issue in the future. This is the time for both of us to enjoy our ability to travel and engage in physical activities.

It was nice to connect with him and feel free to talk about some of my thoughts and feelings. I find it comforting to know that people know at least a little bit of what a life with Parkinson’s can be like.

Life with Parkinson’s can still be a wonderful life, spent with those I love focussing on being together. It is nice to know they have some concept of how I as an individual manage my life and that they can ask me about it.

To understand who I am now, I cannot be separated from being a person with Parkinson’s. However, it does not and will not define me.