Last week, I went to one of my favorite local hangouts for a bite to eat. I had been great the whole day but my meds decided to try to get me dyskinetic. The meds won out for a brief time and although I didn’t notice if anyone else saw my twitching and shaking, it had to happen at the most inconvenient of times. It rose it’s ugly head at dinner, but why not?
While waiting for my order, a gentleman I never met came over to ask me a question. Before he could even get the question out, I explained to  him that I have and had Parkinson’s disease for over 20 years and what he witnessed was a brief episode caused by a medication side effect and not the disease itself.
This very friendly man told my wife and I that he was curious because he was back in school in his mid-forties to medical training as a physician’s aide. I loved his curiosity about the Disease and the meds. This was a real opportunity to educate and inform someone in the medical community about what PD is and isn’t. When these opportunities arise, I strongly urge you to take full advantage to teach those who understand PD. You can leave a lasting impression and make a powerful impact.
