Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive neurological illness which causes problems with the brain; it is caused by the brain not having enough Dopamine as a number of the nerve cells which produce this chemical have died.
Around 145’000 people have been diagnosed with this condition in the UK however it is known that over a million people are affected by the illness either by having it first hand or by being close friends, a relative or a colleague of someone who does.
Three of the main symptoms are shaking, slow movement and muscle stiffness; however, there are many over symptoms that can be caused by this condition.
Jake’s nan was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in April 2009 - this was just over 11 years ago.
She suffers terribly with anxiety and nervousness and can get herself into a right state when she is unable to do something due to her Parkinsons. She also has arthritis which causes her a lot of pain. Due to these illnesses, she is chair bound as she struggles to move around or stand up for too long. She relies on her medication to help her to be able to have any sort of normality in her life. When her pills start to wear off, she ends up in a lot of pain and most of the time. She cannot move until she has taken her next dose and then she has to wait half an hour before they start to kick on, which causes her a lot of frustration.
My boyfriend, myself, her carers and anyone else around trying to help and support her in as many ways as we can, we often have to sit with her for several minutes to help her up, or we help her by doing things that she cannot do, but that cause her stress.
She has four carers who come throughout the day, one for breakfast, lunch, tea, and to put her to bed; they come for 45 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes the other times. The timings are always different, and this can stop Jake’s nan from being able to go out (when she can) as otherwise, she has to cancel the carers which she does not like to do.
She tries to find pleasure in little things, such as colouring, feeding the foxes (as I have previously mentioned), she watches a lot of films, mostly ones involving Clint Eastwood as she loves him. She loves to spend money on clothes, and she loves to buy presents for people, I think seeing that she is making people happy by giving them presents brings her a lot of joy. She donates money to quite a few charities, including the Donkey Sanctuary, the Salvation Army and any others she can find.