Maura Ward
Maura's 65 and counting!
Fundraising for Cure Parkinson’s
Story
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Last summer I was diagnosed as having Parkinson’s Disease. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Initially I felt I was dealing with it all very well – this wasn’t going to change my life, this would make little difference, I would just carry on as normal. Huh, I don’t think so! In retrospect I can see that was a shock reaction, and since then, I admit I have struggled with acceptance. I have come to recognise a diagnosis of a chronic degenerative illness brings about almost a grief reaction. I think I have gone through all the Kubler Ross stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, at last, acceptance.
Thankfully, currently my symptoms are quite mild, my balance is a bit iffy, but I can still ride my bike and go up a ladder (the latter very carefully!); my shake and rigid limbs are confined to one side, and are not that apparent; my gait has changed, (but I’m fighting that one, trying to lift my feet properly and not stoop over); and my fine motor skills are not so sharp. I also get tired more easily, and I think my immune system is not what it was.
Writing it down makes me realise it’s really not that bad, and I should be like Pollyanna and count my blessings – but sometimes it’s difficult!
And I can still do most of the things I want to do - I can work, I can enjoy my grand daughter and I can still travel! My Central Asia trip was a few months after diagnosis, and I coped with that. It entailed travelling to Bishkek via Bangkok and Seoul, hundreds of miles through Krygystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan mostly by train and taxi, walking round various towns and cities, and visiting places on the Silk Route. It was amazing!
The next major trip will be South America. I’m not sure exactly which countries, but am hoping for at least one of Patagonia, Bolivia, Colombia or Surinam. It will definitely be in the autumn, and South America has been on my wish list for more than forty years, so I must be fit and able for that.
The sky dive was always a possibility for my 65th birthday , but now I really want to prove to myself I can still do it!
Elisabeth Kubler Ross also said “Live so that you do not have to look back and say, God, how I have wasted my life.”