[Brennan]

I never suspected Parkinsons, never crossed my mind.  I’m 44 years old and the only issues I was having were difficulty writing and my foot/toes kind of cramping or toes curling sometimes.  At a routine doctors checkup I asked him to look at my wrist thinking it was carpal tunnel or something. He said he was going to refer me to a neurologist. “A neurologist?” I said, thinking it was my wrist or hand, why do I need to go to a neurologist. Well, after the neurologist had me do some test, he said he suspected it was PD. I was shocked to say the least. I then had an MRI to rule out other possibilities, and took a DAT test that confirmed PD. Not a good day, that was 8 months ago, so still pretty new to all this. Now, after reading other PD patients stories, I do feel fortunate for being diagnosed so quickly.(trying to find the positives these days) I can only imagine the frustration of having the symptoms and going to a bunch of doctors appointments and no one being able to tell you what is wrong. Looking back, I was having symptoms maybe three years earlier. I remember a couple summers ago, when wearing flip flops, the flip flop on my right foot stopped snapping back up when I walked, it would kind of just slide. I thought something was wrong with the flip flops so I got a new pair and the same thing happened. So that, along with unusual joint stiffness, muscle tightness and fatigue that I just assumed came along with turning 40. A little worried about the future and what’s to come as I know I’m in the early or “easier” stages.

On a different note, I haven’t told my kids, 10, 5 & 3 yet. Was thinking about telling my 10 year old but I don’t want her to worry. Any advice or experience with this? I find hearing from others with PD helps me more then talking with a doctor about someone who hasn’t experienced this. I don’t mean this negatively but it seems the only people that “get it” are people with PD or there caregiver. Feeling pretty alone these days so thank you for the comments and providing a forum for me to share my experience.