Parkinson's Awareness Day: David's Story
Published: 11/04/2019
A number of our customers are living with Parkinson's Disease and we are proud to support Parkinson’s Awareness Day on 11th June and share some insights into the disease. We recently spent some time with customer David and his Live-in Care Assistant Tom to find out a little more about living with Parkinson's. We would like to thank David for sharing his experience with us and you can read more here.
A number of our customers are living with Parkinson's Disease and we are proud to support Parkinson’s Awareness Day on 11th June and share some insights into the disease.Parkinson's is a degenerative and challenging disease which is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine in the brain and has three main symptoms:
- Involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body tremor
- Slow movement
- Stiff and inflexible muscles
Because it is degenerative, Parkinson's does not get better and can present a number of challenges to those living with the disease.
We recently spent some time with customer David and his Live-in Care Assistant Tom to find out a little more about living with Parkinson's. We would like to thank David for sharing his experience with us:
I used to have a very active lifestyle and it all started when I went to the doctor on a number of occasions with a pain in the chest.
On one of the visits I was seen by a locum doctor who sent off for some more tests and in 2004, I was told that I would need heart surgery along with having Parkinson's.
Initially I didn't really notice anything different and I could just get on with things, however as time progressed i started to get memory spasms and eventually was unable to walk.
Things gradually got worse and although I had long spells of good there were also long spells where things were not quite so good.
After a couple of falls, it was realised that I was really quite vulnerable being at home on my own so the decision on long term care needed to be made.
I love my home and did not want to move into a care home so arrangements were made with Bluebird Care for a Live-in Care Assistant to support me.
My Live-in Care Assistant helps with all aspects of personal care and makes a big difference to my day to day life. Tom has supported me for a number of months now and he really is excellent because of how we get to know each other.
Parkinson's can be challenging, however you still have to get on with your life and put up with it.
There is nothing i can do about it so it is important to make the most of everything as there is no point in being sorry for yourself.
If you would like to find out more about the support that we can provide, please contact our team on 01732 373 024 and they will be more than happy to assist.
On one of the visits I was seen by a locum doctor who sent off for some more tests and in 2004, I was told that I would need heart surgery along with having Parkinson's.
Initially I didn't really notice anything different and I could just get on with things, however as time progressed i started to get memory spasms and eventually was unable to walk.
Things gradually got worse and although I had long spells of good there were also long spells where things were not quite so good.
After a couple of falls, it was realised that I was really quite vulnerable being at home on my own so the decision on long term care needed to be made.
I love my home and did not want to move into a care home so arrangements were made with Bluebird Care for a Live-in Care Assistant to support me.
My Live-in Care Assistant helps with all aspects of personal care and makes a big difference to my day to day life. Tom has supported me for a number of months now and he really is excellent because of how we get to know each other.
Parkinson's can be challenging, however you still have to get on with your life and put up with it.
There is nothing i can do about it so it is important to make the most of everything as there is no point in being sorry for yourself.
