Columns

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. It’s been three years since I had deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease,…

Degeneration is painful to witness, but even more painful to experience. The tasks one might previously have been able to tackle become difficult or impossible. It’s not uncommon for those with a degenerative disease like Parkinson’s to experience changes to their memory and difficulty in staying focused. But it’s…

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with vitamin B1. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. Last fall, at my support group for Parkinson’s caregivers, I learned about vitamin B1, or high-dose thiamine, for the management…

We’re going to be grandparents! My husband, John, and I couldn’t be more excited. Grandma, Nanny, Grannie, or Gram — I don’t care what this baby calls me. I look forward to the (hopefully) beautiful relationship I envision with this child. I hope to be a source of love, cuddles,…

My most treasured moments come from just a handful of days in my life. The first was the sunny, beautiful day in July 1995 when I married my husband, Arman. Then there are the times I first held each of my three children, just seconds after they were born. Many…

I visited my family doctor several months ago regarding some issues related to being a woman “of a certain age” on hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Did you know that estrogen is neuroprotective? I’d initially begun HRT to control debilitating hot flashes, but the bonus was that my brain…

“Jim Rice was a nice guy,” Dad told me one afternoon late last summer. “He walked into my office when I was at Century 21. He didn’t know who I was, but he asked me right away if I had Parkinson’s disease. That was almost 15 years ago.” Dad…

Besides my husband, Arman, we don’t have any friends or family members with Parkinson’s disease. However, we do have a relative, Rose Brown, who’s a social worker working solely with Parkinson’s patients. She’s the Parkinson’s program coordinator at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the sister-in-law of one of my favorite…

For the past couple weeks, I’ve had the post-holiday blues. I’ve also been training for a 5K road race in June. Both of these things have left me exhausted. All I can think about is when I’ll be able to take a nap or go to bed, or whether or…

I’ve often heard people scoff “It’s not rocket science” or “It’s not brain surgery” when expecting someone to accomplish an easy task. But as I tried to calm my jangling nerves, an important clarification ran through my mind: “This is brain surgery.” I was alone with my thoughts in the hospital waiting room…