“Neurologists are a CRAZY bunch! Crazy enough to believe that if they can find a cure for ONE neurodegenerative disease…..they can find a cure for ALL!” (Perception)
I have been living and breathing Parkinson’s disease for 30 years but I never imagined that it would take root in my own home as well. Since Parkinson’s disease has permeated all aspects of my professional AS WELL AS PERSONAL LIFE you can say I am a genuine Parkinson’s expert, connoisseur or maven which ever word you prefer to use ..this is me!I have been a PD caregiver to my grandma, a doctor to thousands of patients, a friend to hundreds, and an on going patient. however, interestingly since I have been involved with PD for years my family immediate family was not even aware I had the disease for a number of years. Over the last decade in particular, I have worked at peeling the layers of this complex disease so that others can begin to understand it, raise awareness, unveil new genetic info, and even embrace it in their lives by providing everyone with essential tools to become their own advocates.
I have been involved as a mentor, teacher, lecturer to pre-med and nursing students for years in an attempt to bridge the gap between patients and health staff as well as improve recognition and PD diagnosing skills. My biggest passions are prevention and early detection of dementia in PD patients since nearly half will develop after 10-15 years of disease also in PD is disparity in healthcare, particularly when it comes to women and minorities. As well as raising awareness about the gender differences in PD- I firmly believe there is a bimodal distribution of PD where younger people affected to be female while older persons tend to be male (not unlike some other neurological diseases in which an autoimmune component is found e.g. MG).
The mission of Defeatparkinsons is to encourage, support, and impart my expertise as a Parkinson’s specialist and patient with those who like me might be trying to make the most out of life with PD. The biggest goal is to foster an environment of fresh ideas and interaction that will allow us one day to not only have individualized care but be able to different all the various subtypes of PD with precision in order to provide exact treatment ..yet this will only come about from understanding the parts of the whole.
As my favorite artist, Van Gogh once quipped: “one cannot understand green without first understanding blue and yellow.”
The advice contained within these blogs is NOT intended to take the place of your relationship with your own physician. the information provided here is rather a supplement to help fill in the gaps and answer questions you might have concerning your life with PD so that you and your loved ones can enjoy and live a happier, healthier, and prolonged journey with PD.
in the end, I guess I picked the right profession or rather it picked me, since I am a dreamer and a bit CRAAZY ..for I am absolutely certain that one day, there will be a cure for PD and other neurological diseases.
My recently published book addressing the issues of women with Parkinson’s can serve as a guide… I have two other books that will be coming out early to mid 2017…
You may purchase a copy of “Parkinson’s Diva: A Guide to woman’s Parkinson’s Disease” here-
http://www.thewordverve.com/shop/parkinsons-diva/
You may also like my blog- http://www.parkinsonsdiva.org
"I AM"- are the two most powerful words in the dictionary because the ending determines your destiny….so join me in my fight against PD to make sure that everyone who suffers from this chronic progressive degenerative disease can develop the courage to shout to the wind- I AM Fierce and Courageous ….
defeatparkinsons 