The Press-Enterprise today had a quote by Christopher Reeve, "Once you choose hope, anything's possible." It made me think of a conversation my wife recently had with Derrick, an acquaintance. In fact, he was a co-worker of hers from twenty years ago. Out of the blue he contacted us and during the telephone discussion with him from his East Coast home, he happened to mention that he was diagnosed with Lupus more than ten years ago. We didn't have a great deal of information on Lupus, but find that it is an auto-immune disease that can be very painful and restricts activities and energy levels, much like Parkinson's Disease, albeit a different causation.
He discussed how he has to modify his daily activities based on how he feels any given day. Weather, he said, plays a huge part in how the illness affects him. I thought, Boy, his Lupus is not unlike Parkinson's. I find that colder temperatures make my tremors worse, and heat can affect the length of time my PD meds are effective. Some days you wake up and feel much better than others. So you modify your day's activities to the extent of your abilities. I thought, you know, there are a lot of diseases out there like Parkinson's that have huge impacts on the lives of the individual.
Derrick also made the comment that he has to manage his life around his Lupus, a comment that we have heard and have been making to others with regard to Parkinson's. I wake up every morning to test the new waters of the new day and work to the very extent of my abilities for that given day. Making people aware of the daily limitations and gaining understanding and acceptance by those caregivers, family members, friend, and co-workers, goes a long way towards making your life more fulfilling. So for me, and for Derrick, we will move forward, testing the waters, but always, every single day, moving forward and managing our separate diseases. And like Christopher Reeve, hope is always on the horizon.
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