The Ribbon of Road Ahead

In my role as an Ambassador for the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, I am asked to complete a survey at the end of each week.  The survey consists of one question and a space for comments

	How much do you agree with the following statement? “I am satisfied with the work I was able to do this past week as an Ambassador.”
◯ Strongly agree
◯ Agree
◯ Disagree
◯ Strongly disagree

The Davis Phinney Foundation has two major goals. The primary goal of the organization is to be an outreach and educational resource with a particular focus on improving quality of life for those living with Parkinson’s disease today, and a secondary goal is to support the development of strong connections within and among the Parkinson’s community.

Some  weeks I “agree” I represent the goals of the foundation well by keeping myself informed, present and available.  Other weeks I “strongly agree” because of the variety on involvement I have with the Parkinsons  Community. 

The past couple of weeks have been  “Strongly Agree” weeks. In reality, I could have used some help myself, and some of my Parkinson’s friends caught on and did reach out to me.  What kept me going was all the activity where I was able to reach out to others. 

I was hurting from tendinitis is my knees…but wait…my elbow and wrists also hurt.  Is this PD PAIN?  I sneezed like crazy and had a sore throat but no fever…is this Covid-19? My husband was gone a lot this week helping others and I was a bit lonely and grew apathetic…is this advancing PD? And then this happened, I didn’t rinse the soap off my feet in the shower and I slipped and slid into the wall, like I was running for home plate and the throw was coming into the catcher: a perfectly executed slide.  Ouch!  

I had a boatload of stuff come my way.

And I believe this is what kept me upbeat and working through my own physical pain:

• Local speech therapist contacted me to connect a newly diagnosed person with our support group.  I was able to give information and Every Victory Counts manual.
• A relative was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and PD. I was able to be a listening ear and counsel.
• A member of our local support group passed away.
• Visited with a woman who is scheduled for DBS next week
• Visited with a mom whose son suspects he has PD
• Visited with the guy whose mother contacted me
• Referred him to another ambassador who lives closer
• Scheduled future activities which I will need to start working on soon:
  • Writing blog post for DPF
  • Representing DPF on a panel of ambassadors to Twitchy Women group
  • Presenting at virtual Lions Club Convention
• Connected with a neighboring support group member 
• Conducted a virtual support group meeting

AND for myself I participated in a poetry group and an art group.

I slept really well at night.  I feel like I have moved beyond most of my own pain. I wonder if I would still  have that severe of pain if I had not had the  opportunities to do something for others.

I think the mental activity really helped me get beyond my own physical issues..

What do you think?