November is
highlighted to build awareness of people with Parkinson’s, both those who
endure the disease and those who care for them. This is the month to visibly
support family and friends who rally around a loved one with PD. This group includes partners who
help with medical appointments or personal care such as dressing or
bathing. It also includes those in our extended networks — family, neighbors,
co-workers, health professionals — who provide support, making them part of the
caregiving network.
It’s important to take time out
to talk about their contributions and give them your support.
Parkinson's Disease Foundation in their latest newsletter tells the story of Dr. Maria De Leon
who has a unique perspective on caring in Parkinson's disease. In fact, she first cared for her grandmother with Parkinson's disease, then for her patients as a movement disorders neurologist, and now lives with Parkinson's disease herself.
The family of Greg Hardoby from Rahway, NJ, have all pitched in since his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease. Mr. Hardoby is himself no stranger to supporting a loved one with PD -- his late grandmother lived with Parkinson's disease. Recently, when he wanted to make a difference by fundraising for PDF, his wife Maria, and their children all helped to put together a golf outing they called Putt Fore Parkinson's and raised more than $5,000.
The family was featured in the NJ Suburban News on September 18, 2014.
"Hardoby, who lives with Parkinson's, his wife Maria and their children Ann Marie and Alex, organized the event as part of the PDF Champions program, the grassroots fundraising arm of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. The golf outing featured several contests such as longest drive and closest to the pin, as well as a pig roast and awards banquet in the evening. The family hopes to make the golf outing an annual event."
Few of us have the time or energy to organize such an event, but this month simply make a phone
call to your PD friends, take a caregiver out for a latte, send an email, add
this link to your Facebook page as tribute to your friends, smile encouragement
in the grocery store to a stranger walking with a cane and a caregiver. So
simple. So appreciated.
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