Living Well with Parkinsons Disease
Dancing in the Rain: Lessons Learned on my Personal Journey with PD (more at www.PDPlan4Life.com) Copyright 2013-20 Sheryl Jedlinski
The personal challenge of raising PD awareness
By Sheryl Jedlinski
I unexpectedly ran into a former neighbor I hadn’t seen in 35 years. We immediately picked up where we had left off, sharing news of family, friends, and everything except the obvious — the walking sticks holding me upright. Like the proverbial “elephant in the room” that everyone sees, but ignores, my sticks bear silent witness to Parkinson’s Awareness Month.
After so much time has elapsed, what would it finally take for me to raise the veil of silence and tell my friend that I’ve had PD for 18 years? Is there ever a good time, place, or way to tell those closest to us that we have a chronic, progressive, incurable disease? Probably not, but neither does keeping secrets move us closer to our goals of improved treatments, quality of life, and a cure.
Those of us who have PD, or care for those who do, hold the key to putting an end to this disease by changing our approach. This includes:
- Making raising awareness of PD a daily focus of our lives rather than something we emphasize one month a year.
- Sharing our unique personal stories about our journey with PD as no one else can.
- Stop hiding in our homes and go out into the broader world, forcing others to see us and feel our pain.
- Continue doing the things we enjoy for as long as possible.
This campaign is personal. We are in the fight for our lives. We can conquer this disease one person and one story at a time.
2 comments on “The personal challenge of raising PD awareness”
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Read more of Sheryl’s humorous stories and helpful tips at PDPlan4Life.com
Living Well with Parkinsons Disease 
Good blog…great message….you are who you are…warts and all….does no good for anyone to hide challenges that could ultimately help others….
❤️❤️❤️
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