Living with Parkinson's Disease

I began noticing changes in my dad two years ago. My mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that didn’t seem to bother him too much. When passed away he didn’t display grief over the loss. It bothered me beyond reason. It angered both my sister and I, not to mention my aunt and uncle. Over time, I noticed a cough that would not go away. X-rays did not display any signs of illness. He also began walking around with a lot of napkins and constantly wiped his mouth. I didn’t pay too much attention to that. I later found that his personal clothing seemed more soiled than normal. I questioned him as to whether or not he was having issues. Because of my pain over the loss of my mom and his lack of display of pain over it, I was more irritated by these symptoms than worried. I thought of them as isolated cases, not as symptomatic of one particular cause. His sleeping patterns also changed. He began sleeping during the day time a lot. We joked that he slept most of the day off and would watch his Italian television at night. He did not display any signs of anemia so that was ruled out by our primary physician. Finally, during a physical last week, he mentioned that his right hand would be clawed each and every morning and that it was painful. That was when a light bulb went off in me. We needed to see a neurologist immediately. Yesterday, his doctor confirmed that my beloved daddy has parkinson’s. Need I tell you, that as odd as it may seem, I was relieved. I instantly felt a tremendous amount of love and compassion for my dad. I understood that now more than ever, I would have the honor to help this man in a very difficult new path in his life. I am blessed to be a part of it. I also know that his lack of emotion on my mom’s passing is not an indication of his true emotions, rather a symptom of a disease that will alter his life. Thankfully, he is surrounded by a family that adores him and now I can just be there for him and give him the care that he so deserves and not be irritated by the new issues, rather relieved and understanding.