Thinking about my dad...

(Olivia made Peepaw a bracelet)

May 9, 2011 my dad (the girls call him Peepaw) went in to the hospital for 10 days to have surgery (a port inserted into his small intestine so that he can receive medication via pump) and for the doctors and nurses involved in this study to monitor his Parkinson's disease. My mom was allowed to stay the night with him, too, which was nice! Unfortunately, his dyskinesia has gotten worse & it's hard for him to enunciate clearly and loudly, so we have difficulty in understanding him, but we are hopeful that things will improve. I see the look of love in his eyes and my mom just sitting next to him just holding his hand. He will go into the hospital August 1, 2011 for 5 days and that will be the "end" of the 3 month double-blind study portion. I wrote about that in May.

I just read "Faces of Parkinson's" which is really helpful...there are so many struggling with the same thing:

• Rick Schwartz wrote "No one I know wants to have Parkinson’s, including me. But sooner or later, life will put real challenges in front of all of us. When I think about the nine years since my diagnosis, I find that they’ve been some of the best of my life."

• Mary Anne Ostrenga wrote "The surprising thing about having Parkinson’s disease and asking for help is that almost everyone says yes."

• 39 year old Dave Dorsey wrote "Sharing my story is therapeutic; I only hope others might benefit from my experience."

And for those of you wanting to know what you can do to help someone. Here is an inspiring article written by Jim Forest who had kidney failure...