Is It PD?

My friend Alisa makes me laugh with her unique views on life with Parkinson’s (and life in general). She has been kind enough to write some of it down:

I remember the exact date I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.  I actually know the time as well.  This is not the case for when I came out as a lesbian.  I’ve often told people that coming out with PD has been more difficult than coming out as a lesbian. I can also safely say the responses I received after telling people I had PD were much more scary than telling people I am gay.  Some of these responses were, “you don’t look like you have Parkinson’s”, “well, you’ll have at least a few more good years.”    One time, I came out as gay to a friend at dinner and she said, “ok, can you pass the butter please?  Come to think of it actually, I got the same first response as above, “you don’t look gay.” There you have it, I don’t look like I have PD, and I don’t look like a lesbian.  Do I look 55?  Don’t answer that.

It took me longer than it should have to tell my parents about both “situations.”  Which reminds me, my PD mentor, Bonnie, calls PD her “situation.”  I now often find myself calling it my “situation” too, as if I can ignore the permanence of my PD for a while.  I cried both times.  What a shocker, me crying.  I really like being gay, I’m sure I won’t ever like PD, and I sure as heck know that 55 won’t last.

After the initial shock of my diagnosis, I started seeing my Neurologist virtually.  She always tells me half of her life story before even asking how I am.  Some might find this offensive-I love it.  When she gets around to it, I tell her the “latest”, usually it’s something like, my back hurts or my jaw is doing something weird. I was extremely exhausted after completing my first sprint triathlon (oh yeah, this is totally uncommon), I get tired more easily, I am having more hot flashes.  You can see where I’m going with this.  She usually responds in the same way, “this isn’t PD, this is being 55.” ,and gives me that cheshire grin (have I mentioned that she is cute-BONUS!)  I have even tried to create symptoms so I’m not wasting her time.  Maybe I truly am an imposter, right Steve?

Nope, I have Parkinson’s, I’m 55, and I am a lesbian.

Note: I used to work with Alisa. It was three years after I retired that she was diagnosed. I retired 5 years ago. She lives fifty miles away from me, so it made sense that we would first meet up this past July in Barcelona at the World Parkinson’s Congress. During one session about the types of Parkinson’s she leaned over and said, “None of this applies to me.” I responded, “Well, then you don’t belong here - get out.” We laughed. As you can read above, Alisa’s cute and talkative neurologist has confirmed her diagnosis. So, no, Alisa, you are not an imposter. You can stay.