April 2014Have you ever had to wait in line at a restaurant...wait for your name to be called? Everyone seems to be moving along, being seated, and all the while you are observing delicous food being served, laughter and conversation being shared.....and you just sit and wait. For a Parkie, that is life in general.
An estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease. Incidence of Parkinson’s increases with age, but an estimated four percent of people with PD are diagnosed before the age of 50. Men are one and a half times more likely to have Parkinson's than women.
Wow...those are some stats! 7-10 million Parkies, of which I am one of the 4% diagnosed prior to age 50, and I am a woman. Feeling lonely yet??? It is very difficult to understand the disease even as one who owns it. So how can I possibly expect those around me to really grasp what it is like to own, have, live with, bare with, and accept, being a Parkie? A 49 year old woman, who did not beat the odds, that were in her favour,. Yep....feeling like a "Parkie of one.."
My friends, most of whom are around my age, are seeing their children off to post secondary institutions, watching them begin careers, or contemplating starting their families. All of this, while they, themselves my friends, are now peaking in their own careers, planning their road to retirement, and beginning to enjoy an active adult lifestyle free from the worries of raising children. It has become the age of "our time". But, me, Parkie of one, is already facing the next junction in life...retirement/health/financial directives of the aging. I feel very distant from my own, and not fully accepting of the steps I am faced with. It seems I have not just missed a step or two, I missed a whole staircase that led to the "middle age" floor, and landed directly on the "senior's landing.".
Being in a small town also adds to the loneliness. Remember, I have had cancer. Everywhere I went, everyone I knew, either had had cancer, or had someone near and dear to them, with it. People were familiar with the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. People were very familiar with, and could relate to what I was actually going through. I was never, ever at a loss for a fully understanding, compassionate individual who could make me feel understood. But, there are few women, under age 50, with Parkinson's Disease.
I have attended the local Canadian Parkinson's Society monthly meeting a few times. Besides the 40 minute drive to and from, the topics and the "atmosphere" are generally geared to those Parkies who are further along in condition and age. And, of course, the majority are men. So how do I find someone who can really and truly identify with my condition? So far, it has been online. I joined an amazing website where I am able to converse, inquire and participate in a large variety of discussion directly related to what I am going through. And....being a forum....is open 24/7. This past year I did miss out on the yearly Parkinson's Convention in Montreal. It was a huge symposium which more likely than not, will not be held in Canada again for a few years.
So, in my small town, in my small world...Parkie of One....is being called out, as I sit at my computer and bond with people from around the world. My online family have become a life line to reassurance, information, and sometimes, even a good swift kick in the pants to set me straight. In this cyber world...as much as we hear the negative aspects, my online Parkie Family, have become a God Send. They really get it....have it.....and are always there, 24/7. Perhaps one day we'll have the opportunity to meet, and I will become Parkie of Many.
No comments:
Post a Comment