I'm Giving A Speech
This afternoon I'm giving a speech on Parkinson's Disease. Most of the people there are ages 50 and up. They have their own health issues.
I'm an acquaintance of a member of this group. He read a couple of my pieces, passed them on and the next thing you know they're asking me if I can talk to them about Parkinson's.
Hey!! You guys will be interrupting my 4 pm nap but what the Hell, why not.
I asked what they wanted to know so I could prepare my presentation. I was told they wanted the basics such as symptoms and treatments but the big questions are what causes Parkinson's and will it happen to them?
Scary questions! What's worse is the answers are just as scary.
I went to that trusty website Wikipedia. They really are a good source to get the basic info. There are so many symptoms that I'm afraid I'll scare someone into going on WebMd.com and then telling their doctor they have Parkinson's. Or worse, telling me after the speech. Shit...I never thought of that until I just typed this. OY!
Wait until I tell them there is no cure and in almost all cases, it's unknown what the cause is. Oh Man...what did I get myself into? Is it too late to cancel?
Last night I was looking at the Michael J. Fox Foundation website. They wanted to know what people needed to deal with P.D. There were about 50 responses and none of them the same.
People had different symptoms. There were different combinations of symptoms. Different medications. No medications. Too much or too little meds causing different side effects. So on and so on and so on.
When I was done researching, I admit I was a little scared. I found so many things that could be a part of my future that I had never thought about. None made for a pleasant afternoon. I really did need that 4 pm nap.
I figure I'll be scaring some people today. They asked for it. It'll be nice to have some company.