Instructions:
- Below are 10 sentence starters about having Parkinson’s disease.
- Choose between 3 and 5.
- Copy and paste them into the “Leave a Comment” window.
- Finish writing each sentence from your perspective.
Alternative Instructions #1:
- Answer all ten prompts, or just as many as you want.
Alternative Instructions #2:
- Write about what’s most on your mind.
Complete these sentences:
- PD makes me feel …
- Because of PD, I …
- The reality is …
- It’s hard to …
- It’s easy to …
- Every day I look forward to …
- The biggest challenge to living with PD is …
- The main thing that has helped me feel better is …
- I was diagnosed in …
- If I had one wish, it would be …
Let’s hear what you have to say!
Because of PD, I … am involved in activities (advocacy, writing, speaking, research) that are more personally fulfilling than anything I have done previously.
The main thing that has helped me feel better is …my relationships with friends in the PD world including fellow PWPs, care partners, contacts with PD organizations, support group leaders, doctors, researchers. Also support from family and friends.
If I had one wish, it would be … obviously to find a cure, but until then to develop a palliative care program for Parkinson’s that is truly effective in improving our quality of life. There is enormous potential for improvement that is now being addressed.
PD makes me feel a wide whirlwind of emotions: fear, anxiety, terror, relief, joy, intrigue, terror again, fatigue, curiosity, awe, sadness, pressured, nostalgic, tearful, energized, frustrated, hopeful, fortunate, unfortunate.
It’s hard to wrap my head around everything because there’s too much to stay on top of.
It’s easy to throw in the towel and just nap all day.
PD made Dad feel betrayed by a body to which he’d devoted his career as a coach and Phys Ed teacher. Because of PD, Dad & I began to develop ways to cope through exercise.
The reality is that it’s hard to deal with alone—and we had no PD support in our area! It’s easy to just give up without encouragement from others.
Every day he looked forward to anything he could read or do that would take his mind away from his body’s new inabilities. His biggest challenge to living with PD was dealing with those inabilities after a life full of physical prowess.
The main thing that helped him feel better was that exercise (his favorite thing) really DID work to let him move easier and with better accuracy for the day.
He was diagnosed at the turn of 2000…his one wish would have been an instant cure!
Because of PD, I have met so many wonderful people that i would not have otherwise. And I have discovered what a wonderful husband i have.
On one hand, the reality is, it sucks. on the other hand, there are worse diseases to have.
It’s easy to give up and give in, but you have to fight.
The main thing that has helped me feel better is the coaches and fellow PWP at Rock Steady Boxing Chicago.
PD makes me feel anxious about my future, as I live alone and no family members live locally. To help alleviate the anxiety for me and my son (living in Montana), I decided to move into an Independent Senior Community that provides continuing care if/when needed. The new development will be completed at the end of 2016 and I’m looking forward to new experiences and new friends.
Because of PD, I have started exercising more and I’m stronger now than ever! I have met others with PD, both in person and through Facebook. The despair I felt when first diagnosed a year ago has slowly been replaced with the realization that there is, indeed, Life After a Diagnosis of Parkinson’s!!
The main thing that has helped me feel better is meeting people with a positive and humorous outlook to life in general and, in particular, life with Parkinson’s. Bruce, please take a bow!! 🙂
I was diagnosed in August of 2014.
If I had one wish, it would be for a cure in our lifetime.