…Breast Cancer awareness has been popular the past few weeks… many of us wanting the same awareness for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease… We thought of adding something different to our status for the next few days.

Ex: Day 1 (Wednesday 13th): round off the number of people you know that have PD/Alzheimer’s (1-100). For those who ask what it means, say ‘Stay tuned!’

Day 2 (the 14th): Put the name(s) of family, friend, or self who have the disease and for those who ask again, ‘Stay tuned’

Day 3 (Fri/15th), final day: Everyone lists a symptom (tremble, shake, memory) – anything that pertains to the illness. That evening post your status with the results and what they refer to, such as, “I know ‘3’ people (or whatever your # was) that have PD/ALZ, their names are ____, and _____ is a symptom of PD/ALZ.

Let’s promote awareness for PD and ALZ. Thank you for your support! And, thanks for Focus On A Cure for an ingenious idea!

The following is elaboration on a page at the  www.theRegulars.org website entitled “And then there’s you” and has been used by permission from Enzo.

If you’ve read the feature here at Parkinson’s Journey about Eileen Colon of The Regulars you might realize that we can’t all be a ‘Strong Feather’ but you might have been inspired by Enzo’s vision for The Regulars and are wondering “What can I do?”. If so, then that is awesome! But you might be sitting there thinking “I’m ‘regular’ but think climbing mountains in not possible for me.” Don’t give up yet…. if you think hard enough then you’ll find some significant way to help no matter how big or small it is! We would like to encourage you to think about these things:

Enzo has said “If you’re anything like “the Regulars” you know that doing nothing is the perfect way to get nothing done. Thinking that someone else is taking care of the problem is taking far too much for granted. The greatest of all journeys starts with one step.” WOW!!! Let that sink in a minute and then do this:

Break this down…..the smallest step might be as simple as talking to people. Anyone and everyone. Think about all the different ways there are today of doing that….write letters, email, blog, talk in the hallway or over lunch, via blackberry, schoolmates, and on and on. You can take the first step by enlightening people with your feelings and experiences. Others may not understand the gravity of these diseases. Think of what you know personally about PD or ALZ. You don’t have to be an expert in the vocabularies of each of the illnesses. Tell others how you feel about the illnesses … how they have impacted your life and those of the people around you. If you have a friend or family member with one of the illnesses explain to others what you see the patient and family having to deal with. If you are a person with one of the illnesses tell your story, how you were diagnosed, how you cope, your hopes and your fears. Tell your friends that you want to do something to help, and that you’ve found a group who is paving a way to donate and support both of these causes. Tell them a little about The Regulars. You might say, “I can’t climb a mountain, but I can help them and my friend by making people aware of their efforts!“ Tell them how ‘Together is One’ makes great sense and by many doing a small part like donating to the Alzheimer Association or to the Michael J Fox Foundation through The Regular’s website then they have joined in the effort to help find a cure for one or both of these illnesses. And if they can’t donate, ask them to kindly tell another person about what The Regulars are doing.

Spreading the word is very important!

Spreading the word about the illnesses is one way of being proactive and doing something positive. You might want to go a step farther and particpate in a fundraising activity yourself (besides climbing a mountain). You might take part in one of the Alzheimer’s Memory Walks or the Parkinson’s Unity walks in your area. Take my word for it, you are not an island alone in your experience with these diseases. In taking that first step, you’ll find yourself in good company swimming in an ocean of people trying to do exactly the same thing – Conquer and cure these diseases. Or you might be creative and organize your own function or event. When you’re excited about doing your own special awareness & fund raising project you’ll be far more driven to make it a success.

And keep this in mind… if everyone does a little, much can be done. You don’t need to be rich. You don’t need to be well known. You don’t need a reason to do something good. Just try…go for it! ..Find your own summit to conquer for one of these illnesses. And… always know there is great power in this thought: “Together is One”

If you’ve decided to join in this effort, let us know. We’d love to hear about your experience, and thank you from our hearts for making a difference!

Judy & Sherri

 

Do get involved in advocacy

Do help, hope, and highlight others

Do increase your knowledge

Do joke about PD once in a while

Do kick PD in ‘da butt whenever you can

Do live, love, and laugh

Do manage your treatments and symptoms the best you can

Do new things

Do open up and express yourself

Do promote awareness

Do quiz yourself on your capabilities

Do realize that you are not alone

Do sing, soar, and trust your own spirit

Do tell, think, and take action to make a difference

Do understand what caregivers need and give

Do value things you haven’t before

Do whatever it takes to keep on “keeping on”

Do xtreme things as though they were routine things

Do yell, scream, kick and fight for a cure!!!!!

Do zzzzzzzzzzz when you can (so you can “just do it” again, and again and again!!!)

And most importantly…..do remember….

you are not alone …..and we hope you feel comfortable at Parkinson’s Journey…… just like you would if we were sitting around the table as friends having a conversation. We invite you to share your hopes,your dreams,your journeys and your learnings, so that we can all gain new knowledge, inspiration, and wisdom to help us live our lives with a chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s disease or in spite of other pressing life issues.

And let’s work together to bring awareness about Parkinson’s disease in hopes that a cure will be found and that we can one day say “I had Parkinson’s!”

submitted by Judy Hensley 4/15/09