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How did you tell yor family you have pd?
I was dx'd Thanksgiving weekend, 91. At Christmas, all my sibs and their families, and my mother were together at my sisters. My neuro had told me zero about the disease. All I had was inaccurate and outdated info I had found on the internet, the result of which I fully expected to quit shaking in 7 yrs because of death.
Now I was a trained family therapist and professor of counseling. I KNEW that some planning should go into a situation like this. What i wanted, and my reactions to possible responses should have been thought out in advance. I would have helped any client confronting this situation to prepare ahead of time. Did I do any of this for myself? YOU GUESSED IT! NO, I DID NOT!
What I did do was, at a lull in conversation while everyone sat on the front porch, say "Well I called this meeting together to let all of you know that I have Parkinson's disease:"
WHAT WAS I THINKING? Everyone sat there looking back at me with stunned expressions. I immediately sensed their shock, and wanting to alleviate some of their stress [like a kid] tried to make light of it by saying "The good part is that Phyllis [my wife at the time] and I are enjoying physical intimacy more than ever. I just never could get a good rhythm before this." -->> You are so perceptive. THAT DID NOT HELP AT ALL! if anything, the perplexed expressions deepened. Finally, my youngest sister [about 35 then] said "Bubba [a southern affectionate name for brothers], you are terrible!" Nothing else was said. Everyone got up and escaped into the house, without saying a word to me or each other. And the rest of the holidays, it was as though I had never said a thing--=IT WAS NOT MENTIONED!
SO IF ANY OF YOU WANT THE HELP OF A HIGHLY-TRAINED FAMILY-THERAPIST AND COUNSELOR IN INFORMING YOUR FAMILIES OF YOUR CONDITION AND ITS RAMIFICATIONS FOR YOUR LIVES, I'M DEFINITELY NOT YOUR MAN!! HA! :>) Ron
CumbyCrawfish