Columns

Jean Mellano, a fellow contributor at Parkinson’s News Today, recently wrote a column about how this disease keeps taking bits and pieces of us — our abilities, our control of self — and leaves less and less of us day by day. In a reply to a…

Identity, the “I” in CHRONDI Creed, refers to the process of finding a health-fostering identity in the face of a chronic disease that has stolen things we loved to do and caused the death of self. When everything I loved to do was taken from me,…

  I’ve rarely had the thought, “Why me?” Does this mean that I’ve signed my life over to Parkinson’s disease? Is it a sign that I’ve given up? Last week at my boxing class, I was punching a bag when I heard laughter coming from the…

“I fight for my health every day in ways that most people don’t understand. I’m not lazy. I’m a warrior!” –Unknown Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disease of loss. It chips away one’s ability to perform seemingly mindless tasks. Examples of what I have lost to Parkinson’s…

You ever try to go back to the way things used to be? Try to think the way you used to think when distractions didn’t compete for your attention? When you had some semblance of  “normality”? Things seemed somewhat organized or orderly and most things made…

Death, the “D” in the CHRONDI Creed, refers more to the death of our self-identity than it does to physical death. As we endure the long battle with a chronic disease and deal with a gradual progression in symptoms, a loss of function occurs. I touch upon…

Everything’s not all right or OK. Like it or not, we have a chronic disease that won’t go away. Our days are consumed with uncontrollable thoughts; they ravage our minds, threaten our souls, and grasp for our spirits. Will we ever be “us” again — those beings who…

We didn’t stand in a long line, waiting our turn to collect the perfect life. Nor did we have a choice as to what kind of life we would be handed. We were just given a box, wrapped in paper with “Surprise” written on it. When we opened…

“Nature,” the “N” of the CHRONDI Creed, has always been a part of my life. One doctor told me, “Your strong history of exercise and nature has kept Parkinson’s at bay.” I was an avid hiker, cyclist, and rock collector in my youth. As I headed into…

Warning: The names of those involved have been excluded to protect the embarrassed. The air could sure use some cleaning out. I try to eat more fiber, but when I eat more fiber, my husband finds the air needs a good cleaning. So, I asked my doctor what…