Living Joyfully With Parkinson's

Diagnosed at 50

At 50 years old, I developed significant left side arm and leg tremors eventually diagnosed as Parkinson's. The disease progressed and it affected many areas of my body, making simple things like buttoning a shirt, handwriting, and even putting food on my plate difficult to do without help.

Even my thought processes and short term memory were noticeably affected. I could go on and on about all the many effects Parkinson's has had on my body. But that's not what is drawing me to write this piece.

Early on I had a resolve that no matter what this disease did to my body, I would not let it affect my attitude. I saw too many people with Parkinson's stuck in self pity or anger over being a victim. Their attitude made them even more miserable than the disease itself. And you can always find plenty of people to commiserate with and feel sorry for you.

So I made a decision early on that I was going to live as joyfully as possible with Parkinson's. That I would have an "attitude of gratitude" about the blessings that continue to come my way. That I was going to see the "bottle" of my life as half-full rather than half-empty. Having this attitude, not stuck in the blindness of anger or self-pity, made it easier to see the wonderful gifts life continued to bestow on me. Gifts like my relationship with my wonderful loving wife Judy has never been stronger. That we marvel at how happy we are in spite of Parkinson's. Gifts like walking my daughter down the aisle. Tremors and all. Or attending her PhD conferment. Or celebrating my son's recovery from drug addiction and the joy we shared at his finding a career path in the music industry that he is passionate about. Gifts like playing in the snow with my granddaughter Sofia. Or watching my daughter beam with joy holding brand new grandson, Max. Even the joy of our new townhouse we bought when the difficulty and expense of keeping our home of 31 years made no sense because of Parkinson's.

I even started a Young Onset "Joy" support group whose purpose was to encourage each other through our own successes, to not let Parkinson's define us or limit our happiness. I only left the group when I had the opportunity to write an insurance book for consumers Insurance for Dummies which took all my free time. Getting it published was a great source of joy for me for two reasons. That thousands of people would be helped by the information. And that I wrote it in spite of the effects of Parkinson's. I could not keyboard because of finger tremors and rigidity. I could not use voice recognition software because my voice was so affected by the disease. And it was difficult to write by hand because my handwriting was so tiny. I did write it by hand and hired someone else (Linda) to type it (after buying her a magnifying glass).

The writing process itself was quite a challenge. I would write a chapter by hand and deliver it to Linda. She would type it up and email it to me. I would print off the document and handwrite the changes, then deliver it back to Linda. She would email me the finished version. I then emailed it to the publisher's editor who sent it back requesting all kinds of changes and clarifications. I would then print that off, by hand make all the changes, and deliver it to Linda who would then email me back the typed changes which I then forwarded to the editor, who would then come back with more questions. And so on.

The bottom line is that the writing of the book was 4 times harder and 3 times more time-consuming for me because of my disease. I am proud of this book and the information it contains. But I am most proud of myself because I did not let the disease stop me.

I share my story with those of you who at a young age have been diagnosed with Parkinson's in hopes that you will realize that it is not a death sentence. That you can still live a rich fulfilling life. In fact a joyful life.

Good luck and God bless.

Jack

Jack is the author of Insurance for Dummies (2001).. He completed a second edition of the book in 2009. In 2006 and 2007, Jack underwent successful DBS surgeries which significantly reduced his Parkinson's symptoms and significantly improved the quality of his life. As of Spring 2012 Jack says, "The disease continues progress a little, but not my attitude.The DBS implants continue to help me immensely. The first two editions of my book have now sold about 50,000 copies. I still continue to work as an agent and I continue to write blogs on insurance at www.IRMI.com." Visit Jack's Website to learn more: www.JackHungelmann.com.