In New York
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Judy

Tennessee

My name is Judy and I live in a beautiful part of the USA called east Tennessee.  I am a wife.  I am a mother.  I am a daughter. I am a sister.   I am a friend.  I am probably a lot like your neighbor or cyber neighbor.

At age 40 I heard these 4 words in a neurologist's office in 2002 almost 4 years ago:  "YOU HAVE PARKINSON'S DISEASE."  I am one of 60,000 Americans a year who hear this same medical verdict and of that number approximately 8,500 of them like myself are classified as a young onset PD patients because they are diagnosed before the age of 50.

It is estimated that every 9 minutes someone hears those life changing 4 words.  Running some numbers I am astounded to think that there are approximately 28,000 people in TN with PD, and as many as 1,700 in a 4 county area in east TN.

You may have heard that PD can make you shake or be really stiff, well it also makes you miss some things.  I miss the old me when I could think better, move better, sleep better, and smile straighter, and didn't have to take medicine every 4 hours!  And I wonder …."where did my dopamine cells go—quite a few of them are MIA?"

AND unless I find those missing brain cells or a cure is found, my PD will worsen—maybe not in a year or a year and a half but it will.  It is slowly progressing but still many people don't notice it because I still work, I can still run, talk, drive.

I hope PD does not ever rob me of one thing …HOPE.  That HOPE for a CURE is what I focus on.  A CURE will not be cheap or easy.  I hate those words…..  THERE IS NO CURE… so I want to do my part to help FUND a CURE so I've participated on a team to raise funds for the Parkinson's Unity Walk in 2006 and again in 2007.

Here are some other reasons why I need to help in a cure for PD….…..

…I don't want to have friends that have to have brain surgery to help symptoms

…I don't want to know another friend who has had to quit work because PD took away so many abilities.

… I don't want to hear of a friend who has contemplated suicide because PD causes depression in over 50% of patients

…I don't want a friend tell me again that they couldn't walk so they crawled to the bathroom one night.

SOOOOO… you want to guess how much money 4 people with PD, some of their friends and family and one little Christian school raised as a team in Unity Walk 2006?   $17,100…. and in our first year we were 9th out of 348 teams in fundraising!!  We did several little things even in places as far apart as New Jersey, Tennessee, and Indiana…like putting jars for change in businesses, selling earrings and tulips and gift baskets, and asking anyone we know to help with a contribution.  And I learned…if you don't ask you don't know who is willing or not…and that a reply of 'no' can be very motivating at times!  The Unity walk this year had another banner year ending up with over 1.4M dollars that will be distributed to 7 national PD organizations for research.  And who knows???? Someday some of these dollars we've worked so hard to collect may pay off in a new treatment for PD! 

I hope if you ever have the chance to experience the Unity Walk in April in Central Park that you will be able to attend.  It was a phenomenal feeling to be there with so many people with PD, their families, and friends.  We need to remember even though we have PD, we need to encourage one another to always have HOPE!  Don't give up..--do your part no matter how small to help spread the word about PD and how it affects you, your work, your  plans, your family, and your dreams.   And that's what you feel at the walk…HOPE.

I would like to thank my family for supporting me in so many ways as we face PD together:

My mom and dad have helped raise a bunch of money for the unity walk and are always willing to help our local group …My sister who went to NYC, flew for the first time, and also did a great job fundraising and she helps and attends many of our support group meetings and functions…My daughter, for not being ashamed to ask her friends to help find a cure for PD, for  going on some trips with me and helping me when I ask her to…and my husband, for going to NYC with me and trying to understand why others with PD mean so much to me and why I would want to travel to New Jersey to meet 2 friends with PD and why I'll ask someone I talk with on the internet to stay at our home…but most of all for his love and commitment to stick by me …no matter what.

And I have so many friends with and without PD who make life so blessed, I could never thank them all.  But I'd like to remind you to take time to count your blessings my friends, it will put a smile on your face….and if you can't find a single one…let's talk. 

October, 2006