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Showing posts from June, 2014

What impact has Parkinson's Disease had on my life?

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Wow! where do I begin? So much to share....here goes! Around October 2007, while on a visit to Utah with my wife Leisa, her brother noticed something about me that caused him to ask her if everything was okay with me. Apparently my arm would not relax and I would hold it up. Then after returning home to Arizona, someone at church asked me if I had strained my back. Apparently I was not moving as easily as I normally would. Well, it was then that I decided to  have it checked out. After going to a primary care doctor, who referred me to a neurologist, this being around Jan-Feb 2008, I received the first diagnosis of  Parkinson's Disease. That doctor encouraged me to get a second opinion, which I did, and of course then it was confirmed. My movement, my gait, body tightness and rigidity, dexterity, handwriting, all of it was being effected by what I learned was a shortage of dopamine cells being produced by my brain. In easy terms for a simple minded guy like me, I compare that to l