April is Parkinson's Awareness Month but for me, every month is Parkinson's Awareness month. In fact, every day is Parkinson's Awareness Day! I don't have a choice. Parkinson's is with me every step of every day...24/7/365 forever. It isn't going anywhere. And that is why I need your help. We need to join together as a united group, people with PD, their families, friends, and professionals and demand more assistance in fighting PD. You can do this by going to endingpd.org and finding out how to send your request to Washington. You can also do this by educating yourself and others about Parkinson's. Dr. Michael Okun recently stated that people now have a 1 in 15 chance of getting diagnosed with Parkinson's! The numbers are skyrocketing and it is not ok! We can do something about this but it will take action by all of us.
For those of you with Parkinson's, I know it can be a struggle to think about being an advocate while just trying to deal with PD. Be your own advocate by taking care of yourself. Take time each day to exercise, eat a healthy diet and stay connected to your family, friends and your PD Community.
Starting in April, I challenge all of you to educate at least one person a day about Parkinson's. (Thanks to my friend, Allison Smith, the Perky Parkie, for this idea). Let's raise awareness and end PD together.
I hope to see you all soon. Until then, stay strong and be fierce!
