Welcome 2016

A little word of warning when eating certain foods! A dear girlfriend had taken me out for the morning and in a shop we were offered a taste of some beautiful large dates. They looked so delicious, I didn’t give a second thought to the thin paper like skin encasing the moist fleshy fruit. A small piece of the skin got stuck in my throat and I began to choke. One of the workers from the shop found me a chair and brought me a glass of water. After a lot of coughing I thankfully managed to remove the piece of date skin, but what an embarrassing performance.

Often a first reaction when seeing a person choking, is to help by patting them heartily on the back to dislodge the obstruction. I was taught in a first aid course NOT to pat someone on the back when choking, for what may have been only a partial blockage, from patting the back, may then result in the airway becoming fully blocked. It’s normally deemed best to allow the person to cough, hopefully resolving the situation by themselves.

So from this story of choking on the skin of a date to an entirely different date, that being the first day of a new year. We wave goodbye to yet another year and welcome 2016 in the hope that this is the year that will bring with it a cure for Parkinson’s. Just like me, millions of sufferers around the world wait for this momentous day.

Someone asked me, why do I say Parkinson’s “sufferers” instead of “people with Parkinson’s”? Perhaps it is because of the silent suffering many patients experience that I feel it’s more accurate to use this word. I don’t see it as a negative term, but one that plainly indicates the severity of the disease which should not be taken lightly. I don’t mince words, and insist on calling a spade, a spade!

As a fan of the British television series “Downton Abbey”, I naturally watched the final episode, aired on Christmas Day. One of the central characters, starts to experience shaking hands. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that two family members in previous generations had the same thing, and needless to say, I immediately thought of “Parkinson’s disease”. In keeping with this excellent series as an accurate period piece, they used the name “palsy” which is what they would have called it at that time. I won’t give it away and say anymore for I wouldn’t want to spoil it for those who have not yet watched the finale.

I wish everyone a happy new year and may 2016 be a better year, filled with good health, much laughter and love.