Hi,
My dad has recently been diagnosed after a DAT scan.
He has suffered for years falling and had a number of serious falls 9 months before diagnosis which resulted in broken ribs, a broken thumb and a shattered shoulder (all from different falls).
He has went from being a very active man, walking almost 10 miles a day (just 9 months ago) to sitting in a chair for most of the day. My mum does most things for him.
He started medication back in June. This has helped him from falling but he cannot walk on his own since May. His medication has been upped since the DAT scan confirmed it - but is there light at the tunnel? Consultant says its early onset but I have seen such a deterioration on his mobility and independence within this last 5 months.
I feel so helpless, I am trying to stay positive as have heard so many wonderful things about the success of the treatment but hard to watch my lovely dad of 71 be so robbed of his independence and the plans for himself and my wonderful mum shattered.
Any advice welcome.
Thank you x
Hi McDJ, and welcome to our friendly forum community. My heart truly goes out for you, your family and your father. A recent diagnosis can be stressful and we’re here to help in any way we can. I’m sure other forum members will jump in as well. We have a lot of information on additional support via our website.
Emotional support and counselling | Parkinson's UK.
Our helpline is also here to help if you need someone to speak to so do give them a call on 0808 800 0303.
Best wishes,
Olivia
Hello McDJ and welcome to the forum.
It is always difficult to know how to reply to a post such as yours, heartbreaking for you all to witness and wishing I could give you some easy answers or reassurance. Sadly I can’t do that but I can perhaps suggest a couple of things that occurred to me on reading your post which may give you a different perspective and something worth looking into. Please bear in mind however it is only my view based on limited information and without any personal knowledge of your circumstances, so may be totally wide of the mark.
My overriding impression on reading your post was that your father has been through an awful lot in a relatively short space of time, not least physically with that series of bad falls. He now has a Parkinson’s diagnosis. It made me wonder if he had lost confidence and/or was depressed. If he has always been fit and active a series of bad falls could have been quite shocking for him and he doesn’t want to risk that again so stays seated - he is able to do that because his wife will look after his needs. Equally a lot of people struggle to come to terms with a Parkinson’s diagnosis seeing it as a black hole where the only way is down and knowing very little about what Parkinson’s is or reading so much they scare themselves half to death. I wonder if he has effectively shut down rather than face all that has happened. It may be worth looking into this and if it is there is something in this, what options there may be to help him and maybe support his wife in her care of him.
I also think it may be worth speaking to the help desk who may have some other thoughts that may help.
I wish I could do more and hope I’ve helped a little.
Tot