Parkinson’s, a personal perspective

As Thursday April 11 is World Parkinson’s Day, the following explanation of how the disease has affected Andrew Busby is an eye opener.

“I’m sorry to inform you Andrew that you have got Parkinson’s disease” those were the words of my Spanish consultant back in 2014.

I’d visited my G.P. over something else and a student doctor on placement noticed the tremors in my left arm, her preliminary tests caused her to refer me on to the consultant.

I knew a bit about Parkinson’s having worked in healthcare in the 70’s. Discovering I had Parkinson’s didn’t frighten me but it worried me. I live alone and not in my country of origin. I then did what I guess a lot of people do when they find out something about their health, yes …… I googled it to find out what I may have to consider for the future.

One man’s experience

This article is about my experiences, thoughts and feelings towards an illness which won’t kill me but will progressively make my life more difficult.

The previous year to my diagnosis, I had to have a series of iron injections which had baffled me. My nutritional intake I thought was quite good. I subsequently found out that there is research which suggests that iron deficiency is an early indicator of Parkinson’s, before any of the outward signs and symptoms show themselves.

Parkinson’s affects different people in different ways and at different speeds, though there are some universal characteristics.  I think that I had it long before the diagnosis.

Reflecting on how it had manifested itself over time, I had gone from being a confident person (as a younger man I taught aerobics, and step aerobics. You must have a degree of confidence to do that wearing Lycra in front of a lot of people), to someone who became inward looking and backed away from experiences.

Parkinson’s attacks the small muscles first and some of these are in the face, so you end up looking like Deputy Dawg. As facial muscle tone deteriorates, many people think your frowning. Depending on what’s happening around me, sometimes I am !!  Your hands are also affected, your handwriting deteriorates. My brother reckons I must have had Parkinson’s since I was 10, as my handwriting was so bad. My excuse was I was training to be a doctor.

Humour helps a little

I try to use humour to get me through coping with this illness but there are times when I reflect upon what was and I become tearful and there is no one to confide in.

When people first find out that you have Parkinson’s you can almost see them take a step back looking for the shaking. I’ve been lucky, shaking came later with me and only recently do I occasionally get the shakes, I swear when it happens, I could take on the three musketeers in a sword battle and win!!!

Now I get caught in a loop with this Parkinson’s. I worked out a while ago that my symptoms become more pronounced when I’m tired. Parkinson’s affects your sleep pattern, I am regularly up at 4am having gone to bed at midnight.

I have tried anything you can suggest to get at least six hours sleep. Nothing works, so now you understand why I am and look tired, It does mean you can get more done in the apartment, not drilling and hammering though, that would upset the neighbours but quiet stuff.

When Parkinson’s affects your hands, your fine motor control goes first (fine motor control being able to screw in small screws, thread a needle, doing up shirt buttons), although I have to say I can still take a computer apart and re-assemble it and it has many tiny screws. But sometimes when I’m brandishing a drill I feel like the mad dentist, it’s wavering around in my hand as if it’s got a mind of its own.

Eating and talking are other pastimes which are affected. I can’t always pronounce the word I’m looking for which is even worse when you are trying to pronounce something Spanish.

Don’t choose spaghetti if eating out

And eating, well …. don’t go for the spaghetti or tagliatelle. If you get the shakes you are likely to whip your face and flick sauce over those close by, so really you don’t need a serviette or even a bib. One of those police suits would be more appropriate!

So, what else do you have to cope with? Well libido, or in the case of Parkinson’s, loss of it. Being single, fast approaching 70 it’s no great issue. One cannot even light the blue touch paper, its either too soggy or too flaccid. But it isn’t going to go whoosh!!!!

Parkinson’s can hit at any age, so I would imagine for younger men (and probably women too) this would be a bigger problem area. I’m sure there’s a pill to help, then another pill to counter the side effects of that pill.

Parkinson’s attracts many different medicines and sometimes you wonder if you need all these drugs. Sadly, you do. When I’ve missed certain times, I can feel the Parkinson’s creeping into the gaps.

Another area that can be affected is your bowels. Doctors can talk for ages about constipation. Fortunately, I’m not suffering in that area yet. Plenty of roughage and dry cider may be the trick to prevent constipation, although if that was the case it should be on prescription.

Movers and Shakers, an appropriately named charity

So, what does the future hold? Parkinson’s is a chronic degenerative disease. Over time it will limit my mobility, prevent me from driving, cause me to have more pronounced shaking and generally reduce the quality of my life, I will have to rely on friends and family more and organisations like Movers and Shakers. I hope that people will have a little more patience when they see this doddering little old man.

The Association of Movers and Shakers is a local charity in the Costa Blanca region offering support to family and sufferers of Ataxia, Huntington’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease .

Members meet every Friday at O’Brien’s Bar,  El Raso, Guardamar del Segura.

The Association’s President, Marion Smith, can be contacted by telephoning 711 008 250, or by email: marion.smith@amscb.org.es.