My Elderly Dad Has Just Been Diagnosed, What's Next?

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My Dad has been struggling to swallow (both liquids and his dinner) for some time now and has finally managed to speak to the right person to tell him what the issue is and that diagnosis was that he has Parkinsons.

I’m not familiar with Parkinsons so was wondering what to expect next for him?

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Hi TheSoloChef, welcome to the forum. We hope you find it useful and are able to connect to other people experiencing something similar to you.

We’re really sorry to hear about your Dad’s diagnosis but we want you to know we are here to support you, your Dad and your family. On our website, we have information on what to do when newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s, including a checklist to help you through the coming weeks. You can find it here: Newly diagnosed with Parkinson's | Parkinson's UK

If you need to speak to someone, we also have a free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 0303. You can speak to one of our specialists who can answer any questions you have and offer you advice and guidance as you navigate this.

We hope this helps and we are sending you all our best wishes.

Take care,
Parkinson’s UK Moderation Team :blue_heart:

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Hello SoloChef and welcome to the forum

You wrote that you are not familiar with Parkinson’s and wondered what to expect for him. You don’t have any idea what a big thing you are asking. BenPUKMODTEAM2025 has given you good advice and I would encourage you to follow up his suggestions as a useful start point, I thought it may help however if I just made a few general comments that may perhaps help you understand a little better what it means to be living with Parkinson’s which hopefully fill out the advice you were given. It’s not really advice, just some comments that I hope will reassure both you and Dad a little. For clarity I will use bullet points but just so you can put some context to what I write, I was diagnosed almost 16 years ago and I am still doing well. So, in no particular order and written as they occur to me ………

  1. There is no cure for Parkinson’s as things stand and treatment is basically symptom control. As such there is a lot of trial and error while a regime is found that suits, in this case your father, best.
  2. In fact both you and your Dad will be embarking on a steep learning curve that never really stops since Parkinson’s doesn’t stand still and the changes often involve an element of trial and error, but over time as your Dad get used to how he and his body reacts, he (and you by default) will grow in confidence in how to manage and live with this condition.
  3. Having said that, progression is slow in most cases and there is time to adjust.
  4. It is frequently referred to as a very individual condition as even people with similar symptoms can find they are affected very differently. This is one of the reasons, I believe that it is not a well understood condition. It is also a fluctuating one and symptoms can vary not only from week to week or day to day but sometimes hour to hour.
  5. The actual diagnosis of Parkinson’s can have a very different impact on individuals and you might want to check out some of the introduction posts here on the forum and their replies to get a sense of how people reacted and what the advice was. In general the advice usually given is not to read everything you can get your hands on because you are likely to end up with information overload and only remembering the very blackest of black scenarios
  6. The first few months can be something of a roller coaster ride with emotions all over the place. This is entirely normal and just go with whoever it takes you, with a bit of time things do settle down
  7. Your Dad may well look awkward or be slow in doing things but do try not to step in too quickly - however hard it may be to watch him struggle, he will probably get there in the end, Far better to encourage him to ask for help if he needs it -if you start taking over you risk him losing his sense of self and feeling he is a burden and that can create big problems’

I wouldn’t wish Parkinson’s on anyone but on the other hand nor is it the end of the world unless you choose to see it that way. Don’t spend all your time worrying about the future because you don’t know how his Parkinson’s will progress; instead learn to make the most of today because that’s a once only, there are no repeats.

Tot

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