2 weeks post-diagnosis my thoughts.....as a PWP (Person with Parkinson's)

Ok here I am at the end of a lovely sunny Sunday nearly 2 weeks post diagnosis.

Do I feel any different to pre-diagnosis? physically, no not a bit. Does this mean the meds are not working? not necessarily, as I'm on ReQuip (ropinrole) starter pack on a continuum from 0.25 mg rising to 1mg in the 4th week.  Then I need to have a chat with my GP to see what dose level we feel is right for me. I say 'we' as it is stressed in all the literature I've so far read that this is very much an all inclusive team effort to manage 'my' Parkinson's disease. So you can see that I've taken ownership of this bad boy, not vice-versa, and I feel this is the best way to stay positive and in control. 

I have also joined the club of PWP- person with Parkinson's (this is the accepted abbreviation in the forums). I would encourage anyone else be it PWP or family/carer to find them here http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/ as these forums are a lifeline where one can ask the silliest of question to a deeper more worrying problem as the forums are managed by PWP who have lived with this for many years, to people like me, the newbies. All seem to be valued equally and this is a comfort  for newbies like me, as these are folks who are true experts of this condition.

One negative since diagnosis was to be told that's its a shame I'm 'suffering' with Parkinson's. This term has always bugged me, probably me being defensive of my daughter who has Downs Syndrome. In my humble opinion she doesn't suffer with Downs, she is a young lady who happens to have Downs, as I am a man who just happens to have Parkinson's.  I fully appreciate this is just a play on words and may be a generation thing, but what do you think? am I wrong to think this way?

To balance the negative, I'm back in touch with my younger sister. Due to our parents separating when we were very young, we lost the closeness of growing up as we were split up and lost touch for many years. she has her own health issues, but the power of the internet means at least we can keep in touch a bit more.

On a final note, my consultant advised me to contact DVLA and advise them of my diagnosis. Now this really freaked me out and has been the worst post-diagnosis issue. My immediate thought was that of losing my licence and car and being stranded as a carer for my daughter in a rural Cornish village with diminishing public transport.
However in reality this will not happen particularly as I am in the early stages and the condition is not impinging on my ability to drive safely. Yes I will need to notify the DVLA but all that will happen is that I will have a 3 year licence and at the end of each 3 year cycle my GP will need to assess if my condition affects my ability to drive safely.

On a final final note,I want to thank publicly my son James who himself will have gone through an array  of emotions through my diagnosis, and has been so supportive (even when he forgets to answer my texts)! Parkinson's UK do an excellent DVD for close family members affected by this diagnosis and it does seem that this may have put his mind at rest a bit as Parkinson;s is a very slow degenerative condition and affects PWP in different ways. In fact one member of the support forum tells how he has had the condition for 15 years and very few people even realise he has Parkinson's.

I would love to hear any feedback from you, dear readers, my email is tjkernow@hotmail.co.uk and any experiences you have had, or to pick me up on something I have said on here, give me a shout, it will be good to hear from you.

Take care One and All, and look after each other.

Tony.