Barbara suggested that I post a note outlining my interest in Parkinsons
Disease. I'm new to the Internet, so let me apologize in advance if this
message gets messed up. Let me also apologize in advance for the length
of this note.
My father - now aged 78 - was diagnosed with Parkinsons about 10 years
ago. The drugs (I think he has been given every variety of L-Dopa
known to humanity over the years) worked wonders for about the first 8
years. If this does not sound too heartless, his family all thought that
he would succumb to some other ailment long before the Parkinsons got too
advanced. (He had had high blood pressure for years). We were wrong.
His primary caregiver through most of the progress of the disease has
been my mother - now aged 72. Over the last couple of years, his need
for care has been going up while her ability to give care has been
declining. Finally, about three months ago, she accepted the inevitable
and agreed to put my father into residential care.
One of the features of the "good day/bad day" nature of Parkinsons seems
to have been that my father was able to put on a special effort when any of
his children were visiting (we all live far away). Consequently, we did not
realize how poor his condition was becoming in the last two years. In a
process that is vaguely reminiscent of co-dependency, my mother internalized
all problems. For example, she claimed that her hearing was deteriorating,
and thus she could not make out my father's progressively weakening voice.
(This despite her doctor's assurance after thorough testing that her hearing
was excellent). I spent two weeks last year looking after my father, and
realized then that the problem actually was that much of the time he did
not make sense. He was suffering from delusions, and - worst of all - at times
was himself aware of the fact that he was having delusions.
I suspect that my father had been taking more than his prescribed dosage
of Sinemet for some time. We had him taken into a specialist Parkinsons
Hospital Unit, to try to determine if the dementia/confusion was caused
by the medication, or was simply the onset of "normal" senility.
However, the specialist concluded that the disease was too far advanced
to be able to formulate any alternative treatment.
Now that he is in residential care, I have the impression that the
hospital has cut back on the medication; this leaves him pretty rigid,
but his mind appears to be clearer. The last time we talked, he
discussed suicide in very matter of fact terms, as a way out of what he
perceived to be an unacceptably low quality of life. (This was a very
level-headed discussion; fortunately, my father has never been affected
by the depression that the books say often accompanies Parkinsons). Of
course, a man who cannot go to the bathroom unaided is in no position to
take his own life. I am afraid he is condemned to wait until nature
takes its course.
I'm sorry if this is a depressing tale. My father overcame
unbelievable obstacles during the Great Depression and World War II;
it is sad to see him come to this. I hope that medical science is able
to come up with better long term treatments for Parkinsons. The
question of what we do about degenerative diseases in older people is a
tough one for society as a whole.
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* Gavin Longmuir * Internet: [log in to unmask] *
* P. O. Box 673 * Phone: (505)-832-0259 *
* Stanley NM 87056 * Fax: (505)-832-4948 *
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