Today
For some time now we have been living with Paul's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. It's the commonest form of neurological degenerative disease after Alzheimer's. Sometimes a diagnosis for a disease is a death sentence. In this case, since it doesn't kill you, it's more of a life sentence.
In My Day
I first met someone with Parkinson's when I worked at Orchard Lodge back in 1969. Ostensibly, I was a cleaner but I was soon asked to assist in the men's sick bay. I cleaned, helped old geezers to the toilet and helped to serve meals.
Many of them were in the last stages of dementia or type 2 diabetes but there was one old gentleman who had Parkinson's. This was explained to me by the nurse in charge, a burly man who managed to combine brooking no nonsense with a tender care for his charges.
The gentleman in question was a gentleman: unfailingly polite and very apologetic about his condition, as though he could help it. He was skeletally thin and shook from head to foot. He was given the same meals as everyone else and most of the food seemed to land at his feet or down his trousers. I would wrap him in a large napkin and help his hold his soup bowl steady and guide the spoon to his mouth, hoping that at least some food would get into his body.
"I'm sorry, girl", he would say, over and over again, as though he was just being difficult. I rather liked him and was always willing to give him what help I could, steering him to the toilet when he needed it and letting him tell me about his life.
Then, as now, there was no cure and there were not even palliative treatments. There was also what would seem now to be a rather lax approach to self- help. Physiotherapists, these days at the heart of treatment, were unheard of and, in the midst of all the bustle of men's sick bay he was slowly shaking himself to pieces.
I am very glad to live a a time when there are effective treatments to manage the symptoms and constant support from Neurologists and physiotherapists to ensure maximum independence. This ensures a reasonable quality of life for much of the duration of the sentence. And I will be there for the duration.
