Wondering how long my uncle could keep driving with Parkinson’s
As his symptoms progressed, our approach had to change
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“Will I be able to drive?”
Of all the questions my uncle Brandon could’ve asked after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that was one of the first. If you knew Uncle Brandon, though, it probably wouldn’t have surprised you.
This was not a man interested in becoming anybody’s passenger prince. Uncle Brandon loved to drive, and apparently, he’d gotten an early start. He’d been doing it in some form since he was about 13, growing up in the country. Yes, 13 years old. Different time, different place, and apparently very different rules.
As an adult, that love never went anywhere. He enjoyed the drag strip and had a definite need for speed. He also had a long-running relationship with Ford F-150s, owning several generations and models over the years. Anytime our family was preparing for an out-of-town trip, he’d tell us to pack up the cooler, put everything in the truck, and squeeze as many of us “kinfolk” into his double cab as reasonably possible.
Uncle Brandon had also spent years working a hands-on job fixing things in a factory. He was accustomed to movement, working with his hands, getting behind the wheel, and going where he wanted. Then Parkinson’s entered his life.
The road was still his
From where I stood, some of those changes seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, things he’d done without much thought required more consideration. And one of the things weighing on him was whether Parkinson’s would eventually take away his ability to drive.
One day, Uncle Brandon opened up to me more than he usually did. In so many words, he told me that Parkinson’s had already taken so much from him. He didn’t like thinking that it could eventually take something as important to him as getting behind the wheel and having control over where he was going.
I understood why that bothered him. After conversations with his doctor and physical therapist, we had a better understanding of what driving could look like for him at that stage. Parkinson’s didn’t automatically mean going from driving one day to handing over the keys the next. His ability needed to be considered individually and reassessed as his symptoms changed. So that’s what we did.
We approached something he loved carefully without taking it away from him unnecessarily. We paid attention to how he was feeling and worked around his medication schedule. A short trip on familiar neighborhood streets on a clear day wasn’t necessarily treated the same way as driving at night or in bad weather. As things changed, sometimes one of us would ride along.
Of course, being Uncle Brandon’s passenger occasionally meant irritating him.
“You OK, Unc?”
“Yes …”
“You can see?”
“Yes, I can see. I’m not gonna harm nobody on this highway.”
Message received.
Most of those drives were wonderfully uneventful. We got where we were going, and Uncle Brandon remained exactly where he preferred to be: behind the wheel.
As his symptoms progressed, our approach had to change. There were more considerations and more moments when somebody else needed to drive. Still, when driving was appropriate for him, we tried not to make every trip into a production. Sometimes he just wanted to drive around the corner or through the neighborhood and have that small stretch of freedom.
Some of my favorite memories, though, came when he returned to the country. Away from crowded city streets and heavy traffic, there were stretches of familiar open road surrounded by trees and considerably fewer cars. When circumstances allowed, Uncle Brandon could settle behind the wheel and roll along much like he used to.
At the beginning of his diagnosis, I couldn’t promise Uncle Brandon that he’d always be able to drive. None of us knew exactly what Parkinson’s would require of him later. What I could remind him was that he didn’t have to surrender everything that day simply because he might have to make adjustments tomorrow.
There would be time for those conversations when they became necessary. But on those country roads, I didn’t have to spend every moment wondering how much longer he’d be able to drive or what Parkinson’s might eventually change.
Sometimes I could simply sit in the passenger seat, look out at the open road, and let Uncle Brandon drive.
And for a little while, that was enough.
Note: Parkinson’s News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Parkinson’s News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Parkinson’s disease.
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