Nan Little describes herself as leading an active life
before she had problems with her arm. Biking, hiking in the Pacific Northwest,
lots of social activity, and excellent health, with all these things combined,
she couldn’t understand why her arm became rigid. Unlike most books about
Parkinson’s Disease, this one doesn’t focus on the disease itself, but the
person coping with it.
She first notices her symptoms while fly fishing; whereas
once she could bring in the fish with graceful dexterity, now it took longer.
She describes going through different diagnoses, then different medications,
some work, some do not. All the while she continues to enjoy her physical
activities, but has to adapt with one arm being unavailable, or one hand having
uncontrolled movement.
One of the main themes of this book is that despite having
uncontrolled tics and spasms, the personality doesn’t need to change. Not being
able to do the things you did before doesn’t mean that the “essential you” is
gone for good. She quotes a speaker at a conference as saying that it was a
change from what he was used to; people in his community had once looked up to
him, and that all changed when he fell off a letter, got a head injury, and
woke up with Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, and other degenerative
illnesses are going to be a greater problem in this country in the next
decades. People are living longer than ever before, and someone with Parkinson’s,
especially if they live alone, may require more care than others. This means
that long-term health insurance is more important now than ever before, along with disabled-accessible housing, adaptive
technology.
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