Victoria

Diagnosed at 48

As I look back on my life, I do ponder a period when I had some pretty serious, pretty awful, issues with anxiety, where I felt like I couldn’t swallow anything. Even though I was officially diagnosed in 2003 when I was 48, I think my Parkinson’s story started about 14 years before that. I remember feeling the tremors upon awakening and reaching for that “magic” pill and water on the night stand before I could even get out of bed. My doctor was amazed I was able to even function on that high dose of Xanax, but not only did I function, I took care of my children and worked in a hospital medical records department. I started experiencing tremors again in my hands about 12 years later in 2001, but just tried to ignore it and hoped it would go away. It did not, it only got worse. Finally, in January 2003, everything else was ruled out and I received the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. However, I have to state that I felt great relief when I was finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s because I knew I could live with that, unlike so many other brain diseases. It could definitely be worse. My life would forever change and become difficult, but at least there was a future.