First Contact

So there I am .
Newly diagnosed.
So far the only people with Parkinson's I have met are pretty much like me.
The Saturday morning Parkies. They would meet on a irregular basis at the crepe place on the Rothesay commons.
Regular guys with maybe a little tremor, or a shuffle walk. Nothing to be scared of.
Some of them have had Parkinson's for over ten years.We would compare symptoms, and as all Parkies do, what type of meds you are on, and how many you are taking, and how often.
(What is it about Parkies. You get two or more Parkies together and in five minutes. The conversation is reduced to what type, how many, and how often). Another topic, another day. Sorry I digress.
Back to the topic, such as it is

This is pretty good I think.
The future looks not so bad....
3 weeks earlier
So when I was diagnosed. One of the first things I did was to reach out to the local listed contact for the Parkinson's Society. I wanted to talk to somebody, I wanted to hear I was going to be all right.
I wanted to know what I was up against.
So I called the number listed. Left messages NOTHING
I tried for 2 weeks NOTHING
I lost it. WTF here I am full of questions.
How long do I have? Will I have to sell my house and buy a single level unit?
Am I going to be Michael J Fox in a week?

So... I wrote a scathing email to the Maritime office in Halifax
I got a reply... and a phone call
Hello my name is Bob Shaw. I am CEO of Parkinson Society Maritime Region  (PSMR)
While I can not give you all the answers, I can put you in touch with some guys who can.
Enter the Saturday Morning group.
As well ...
During this time I was Chair of the Saint John Family Resource Centre Board of Directors.
So during my conversations with Bob, I told him I wanted to get involved. Sit on the local board, make a difference, make sure no one's call went unanswered.
Bob in his sneaky little ways said " the local group needs someone to take over the Parkinson's Superwalk". So I said yes.

So now back to the present .
I arrange to meet with the local board and talk about the up coming Superwalk.
So to put this in a time line ...
Diagnosed in February, meet the Saturday morning group April, first board meeting May,
4 months after the diagnosis.
I arrive a little early, the meeting is being held in a house on the west side, in what used to be doctors offices.
I am sitting there my back to the door.
In the matter off ten minutes. My brain explodes
I see the future!!!!!! One guy makes Michael J Fox look normal, another is using a walker. Another just stares, blank faced .
I left the meeting excited to be doing the Superwalk, totally bummed and scared about the future.
This is the first time I had encountered long term Parkies.
And it scared the bejesus out of me

It took sometime to get used to seeing them. 
I have learned that they are really great individuals, who still battle, have not given up, are fighting to hang on to who they are, not what they have become. I am proud to call them friends.

So I did the Superwalk. We raised over $13,000 .
The next Board meeting to talk about the walk,  they asked me to be Chair. I accepted.

My Cell number is listed as first contact .