Hopefully ever after (whatever the weather)

Her Deep Brain Stimulation surgery was successful, the sun shone brightly every day, and she lived happily every after… Not quite. Yes, my Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery (18 months ago) was successful and I am so very grateful for that. The sun has definitely shone brightly on some days since my DBS surgery. As…

Living with Parkinson’s… 9 nine years and counting

When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s nearly nine years ago, I had no idea what my future would look like. I consider myself lucky to have access to brilliant NHS services for Parkinson’s and also great support from friends and family. Without both of these, my Parkinson’s journey would have been a much more difficult…

A different world

Last month in my blog about hope I wrote: ‘My hope for 2020 is that I will be better able to cope with whatever challenges life throws at me – Parkinson’s or otherwise’. When I wrote those words, I never imagined that ‘otherwise’ would be a world challenge like Coronavirus. Never say never. It somehow seems impossible…

With a little help from my friends

I’ve been finding living with Parkinson’s particularly challenging for several months now. The constant up and down of my medication cycle with dyskinesia thrown in, always feeling exhausted, disturbed sleep, anxiety, apathy, other symptoms and even just remembering which of my tablets to take when – sometimes just feels overwhelming on top of other life…

Challenges, choices and keeping faith

Although it affects pretty much every aspect of my life, I generally try not to let my life revolve around Parkinson’s. However, this year Parkinson’s has brought me a new challenge in the form of dyskinesia. And I have been struggling with this, so much so, that my life has seemed to revolve around Parkinson’s,…

The ups and downs of a pilgrim’s path with Parkinson’s

I’d like to begin this blog by recommending a film called ‘The Way’ (2010) (starring Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen and James Nesbitt) which tells the story of four unlikely pilgrims walking one of the most famous pilgrimages – to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I watched this gentle uplifting film last week while on a…

Long term conditions – a challenge

What does it mean to be diagnosed with, and to live with a long term condition? A long term condition is just that. A condition that you are stuck with long term. It’s incurable. It affects your quality of life and it isn’t going to go away. It is something that you have to learn…