In response to John's question the following personal feelings:
Friends, family, colleagues and loved ones react to input they get from you.
Traditionally everybody wanted to know about the health of the people they
communicated with ("Hi, how are you?"). The rural Xhosa and Zulu people in
my country have a long list of family members that they want to know the
health of before they will start with a normal discussion. (".. is your
father well?..and your mother?..and your father's mother & father,...etc).
Today we do not have the time to listen to everybody's problems.
My personal viewpoint is that I judge the amount of information that I give
to the person that I talk to. Meeting an acquaintance in an elevator will
not result in me getting him updated with the latest detailed reports.
Discussing my PD with my wife is detailed, without leaving anything out.
I feel that it is important that people see a balanced you. Do not always
be negative and down. I always ask myself how I would react if I were in
their shoes. People are drawn to interesting people, and pushed away from
people who are always whining and complaining.
With this approach I find it easy enough to give all the details of the
latest reports and how I currently feel to my loved ones - without talking
about it full time. (I like to give them a break too - it is bad enough
that I am aware of PD all the time.)
When I do talk about PD I will also discuss the non-visible aspects of the
disease, so that they can understand the total situation better. This
allows them to fit pieces of the puzzle together - which can be to your
benefit. Remember that some of these people might/will become your
Caregiver/s, and a long lead-in will be beneficial.
Gerrit Kleynscheldt
Tel: 021 947 8918 (International +27 21 947 8918)
Fax: 021 947 1521 (International +27 21 947 1521)
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