One year ago today, at 38, I was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s.…

Year One

One year ago today, my movement disorder specialist told me I have young-onset Parkinson’s disease. I was 38. Honestly, almost a celebration. The process to get here, to GET the diagnosis was a fight, as it is for most with YOPD. I was told I don't fit the type, I can't have it, I'm too young, I can smile, so why would I have YOPD? But, here we are.

A month before that, I’d been told it was highly likely, but they had to rule out other causes with genetic testing first. So I spent a month living in “probably.” Then it was official. It hasn’t been easy.

In college, I was taught that grief isn’t a process. It isn’t something you get over. It’s something you get used to. I didn’t expect that lesson to come back around like this, but here we are.

So this is me getting used to it, out loud. I’m new to social media, so consider this an experiment in the making: documenting the journey forward, and getting used to the new me. Expect honesty, some hard days, and questionable jokes.

Year one: done. Why be normal?

YOPD #Parkinsons #ParkinsonsDisease