Tremr

Parkinson's is associated as an old man's disease. Tremor, shuffling, slow movement. So imagine my horror at 47 when I was diagnosed with Parkinson's. I was working as a doctors' receptionist and I handed in my notice as I was unsure what the future held. I could just let it rule my life or I could fight back, so I fought back. I pictured this gentleman dresssed in a white suit, a hat and white socks and shoes. He had his foot inside my front door, he kept knocking but I refused to let him in.  I named him Mr Parky. I was surprised how little I understood of the illness so decided to research it myself. I was put on medication and slowly my symptoms improved. I too suffered from slowness stiffness and shuffling- these are called motor symptoms - but there is more to the illness than what you see. You can lose your sense of smell, taste, it can cause depression, anxiety, it can affect your thinking, memory. It's classed as an invisible illness, people suffer with the...

As a teenager I attempted to teach myself guitar. I got as far as learning a lot of the chords but not beyond the stage of pausing indefinitely to switch between chords while sticking out my tongue like a toddler taking his first steps. Some of the finger exercises are etched in my memory though and I developed a bit of a nervous habit of rippling the fingers of my right hand like a flamenco guitarist. If only my left hand could get its act together. The first symptom that I noticed before being diagnosed with Parkinsons was a slowness of movement and lack of control in my right hand. I'd liken it to the grab-a-toy claw that you see in amusement arcades. You're sending the right signals but they are lost in translation. The word 'claw' always feels inappropriate in this context as it implies a kind of feral power which makes it all the more disappointing when you see the robot claw grasping ineffectually at the prizes. To feel that sense of detachment while trying ...