Ally

Parkinson’s disease affects 1 in every 500 people in Canada. Over 100,000 Canadians are living with Parkinson’s today and approximately 6,600 new cases of PD are diagnosed each year. In a larger country like the United States, those numbers are higher, with roughly 60,000 new diagnoses per year. Worldwide, it’s estimated that between 7 million and…[Read more]

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a general check in with the community and I’m curious – why did you join this forum? How did you find us and what are you looking for? Is there anything we could be doing to improve your experience? Don’t be shy — Jean and I want to hear from you!

A lot of advocacy and awareness initiatives rely on people with lived experience sharing their stories. That can be a pretty vulnerable experience for some. How comfortable are you with talking publicly about your life with Parkinson’s disease? Have you ever been asked to be a guest speaker at an event or have you used social media in any way to…[Read more]

Do you ever feel guilty about having Parkinson’s disease because of how it has impacted people close to you, like your spouse, children and friends? Have you ever talked about these feelings with someone – a trusted confidante or a mental health professional?

This past weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day in Canada. I’m very lucky in that I was actually able to spend time with my mom this weekend and tell her in person how much she means to me. I’m keenly aware that Mother’s Day isn’t an easy holiday for everyone, however. For instance, my best friend died two years ago and Mother’s Day is a hard day for…[Read more]

When a person is diagnosed with a rare or chronic illness, their whole life changes. Suddenly there are new parameters to follow – appointments to attend, medicines to take, and maybe even a new physical therapy or exercise routine to follow. Often a chronic illness limits a person’s ability to spend time in public or access certain spaces due…[Read more]

How many medications have you tried for treating your PD symptoms? Did any of them work really well for awhile, but then seemed to lose their efficacy? What about side effects? Did you ever discontinue a medication because its side effects were too difficult to bear?

I attended an interesting event at my church recently where someone spoke about God’s healing power. They cited examples of people being healed from cancer, bacterial infections in the brain, and more. They also said that sometimes you can pray for someone to be healed, and it doesn’t happen. I believe one of the quotes was: “You pray for healing…[Read more]