As mentioned earlier (much earlier), my first neurologist diagnosed me using a simple test. I had entered his office symptom-free and was reading a paperback, without tremor, which is not easy to do if you are a PWP and I was getting restless. My appointment was for 9:30 and he was already behind. I found out the reason for his backlog. The man came to work an hour late! When he finally called me in, I was showing no signs of having PD. He had me sit up on an examination table, asked me to place my hands, palms up, on my knees and count back from 100 by 7's. By the time I was finished, my right hand had a life of its own. "Early stage parkinson's," he said matter-of-factly.
Now this doctor has been around for awhile - quite awhile - and his experience led to his diagnosis. I wasn't upset. I had lived a charmed life up to that day, so I needed to find out more about it and determine if he was correct.
All the way homeI was not particularly concerned. I had heard of parkinson's but knew nothing about it. My reaction to my diagnosis was "So, what now?"
In the seclusion of my home office, I searched the internet. It dawned on me that his simple test had condemned me to a life with an incurable, degenerative brain disease. I had to make sure he was right. From my research, I found the 4 main symptoms of PD and I had the first one in this list.
- Shaking or tremor
- Slowness of movement, stage name bradykinesia
- Stiffness or rigidity of the arms, legs or trunk
- Trouble with balance and possible falls, referred to as postural instability
Generally, there must be 2 of these symptoms present over time in order to make a definitive diagnosis, but I guess if you are a graying neurologist, one symptom will be satisfactory for a diagnosis and looking back, although I never mentioned it to the doctor, I was slowing down. But I needed more information.
I had read on the forum on the UK Parkinson's site of PWP having had a DaTSCAN for diagnosis. I have not heard of such a thing here in Canada. It may or may not exist.
A DaTSCAN is an scanning machine that uses small amounts of a radioactive drug to help determine how much dopamine is available in a person's brain. Apparently it is used in Europe, the USA and probably Canada, to confirm a diagnosis for Parkinson's. The machine itself cannot make that diagnosis. There is no definitive test for parkinson's. I understand it can be used to differentiate between parkinson's and essential tremor, but it cannot diagnose PD alone.
I had to find another neurologist. I was impressed by the first one's experience but I hate sitting in waiting rooms and this guy showed up one hour late for his first appointment? I subsequently went to another neurologist, who confirmed the diagnosis and referred me to a specialist at a movement disorder clinic where the diagnosis of PD was carved into stone. I definitely had PD! What could I do to help myself get through this.
If you are unfortunate enough to be in the 1-2% of the population that is diagnosed with PD, I think that you will find having a good attitude, exercising, eating well and maintaining a sense of humor will certainly lessen the impact of the disease. And, take the drugs! Through drug therapy, I lead a fairly normal life. But what of the future? What lies ahead? I read somewhere that on the average, depending on age, you can expect 5 normal years, 5 - 10 decent years and thereafter it will depend on if you are one of the unlucky 20% who fall victim to dementia.
Occasionally you might get angry at the gods for giving you PD, but worse, giving you the inability to predict its course and the ability to know all the possible outcomes. Stop it. Think positively. I cling to the very real hope that science will find a cure, or at least a way to stop its progression within the next 10 years. Dr. Oz predicted a cure in the near future. Meanwhile I will lead a normal life. I just don't let my diagnosis get me down. Life goes on, even after a diagnosis of PD.
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