And I hear them often, from strangers, from cashiers, from salesmen, I have even heard it from Doctor's, Nurses and Pharmacists. They always come right after I say "I have Parkinson's Disease".
My Wonderful Husband and I drove 200 miles to San Diego to attend a Parkinson's Seminar hosted by UCSD and the Parkinson's Association of San Diego. My built in GPS failed me, or I just couldn't remember what I saw on the map, I'm not sure which, but I took the wrong exit and got lost. I quickly realized my mistake and after several U-turns, found the signs and made it to the program, 20 minutes late. We signed in and found seats.
During the break, I met Karen & Sue, people I've met online through Twitter. I'm not sure which of us was more excited to meet the other, I guess it was a tie, but either way, I was glad to meet them in person.
I wandered around and introduced myself to some of the folks who were attending the seminar, told them about this blog and gave them refrigerator magnets with the Parkinson's Humor web address on it. I even told a funny story or two.
And then it happened, those four words "but you don't shake". I didn't scream, I didn't even get mad. I just said "You're right, I don't". I explained that tremors have always been the least of my problems and are controlled fairly well by medications. He asked "How long have you had PD?", I said 12 years. Wow, he said, how do you manage your symptoms so well? I explained about Charting my symptoms and a great relationship with my Neurologist. A few others nearby, heard our conversation, and asked me about charting. I explained it, told them I had written a story about it and gave them magnets with the Parkinson's Humor web address and told them how to find the story on my blog.
The seminar was very informative and afterwards I handed out a few more magnets and told a few people about my Parkinson's songs. I got to talk to several of the Doctor's who spoke at the seminar. The best part? None of the Doctors said "but you don't shake" when I told them I have Parkinson's. That gives them an A+ in my book.
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Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!
