the September 2015 Newsletter
Transcription
the September 2015 Newsletter
P The September 2015 Friends of Parkinson’s Volume 2 Issue 9 arkinson Post Living Well with Parkinson’s ~ An Integrative Approach Parkinson's & Altzheimer's A Heart-Warming Tale of Two People in Love Don't Quit The Unsung Warriors Parkinson's Quiz Magic Bank Account Friends of Parkinson’s • September 2015 • Page 1 The Parkinson Post Message From FRIENDS OF PARKINSON’S Subscribe or Donate Today (page 8) DON’T QUIT When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is bizarre with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don’t give up though the pace seems slow, You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than it seems To a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor’s cup; And he learned too late when the night came down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems far; So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit It’s when things seem worse that you mustn’t quit. Author Unknown Publisher Friends of Parkinson’s Website FriendsofParkinsons.org Executive Director Jamillah Ali-Rahman Staff Writers Lisa Vanderburg Editor Michelene K. Bell Contributing Writers Leslie Davidsonl Int’l Research Specialist Lisa Vanderburg Advisory Board Donna Jensen Dir. of Operations Frank Fuentes Dir. Marketing & Pub. Relations Lanie Spradlin Dir. Community Affairs Tina Drago Dir. Medical Services Jim DiFiore Dir. Business Development Charles Jensen Legal Advisor Shirley Hofmeister Dir. Emeritus Distribution Manager Jon Carl Olson Advertising 725-222-8181 Office The Parkinson Post 2400 N. Tenaya Way Las Vegas, NV 89128 Ph: 725-222-8181 Fx: 702-838-2640 E-mail Info.ParkinsonPost@gmail.com Page 2 • September 2015 • Friends of Parkinson’s Inside this issue Message From Friends of Parkinson's Don't Quit - Author Unknown Page 2 Carers [caregivers] The Unsung Warriors By Lisa Vanderburg Page 3 Parkinson's & Alzheimer's By Leslie Davidson Pages 4 & 5 Pondering Life • The Magic Bank Account • The Parkinson's Quiz Page 6 Events & Resources Page 7 Friends of Parkinson’s - Membership Message from Executive Director Page 8 Parkinson's & Alzheimer's Featured story A heart-warming tale of two people in love Leslie Davidson Don’t forget the Sock Hop! Save this Date: October 24, 2015 The Parkinson Post C arers T aming the Beast Within We know how this journey will end, cure aside. This is it, for both you and me…it might be huge and terrifying as the beastie in the wardrobe, but it’s still not in our control. L ike a dog circling to settle, I find the greatest calm and solace to begin is through the written word. I love language. In school I studied Latin and just for a little levity before we begin, here’s a favourite phrase: "Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!" Which translates to: “If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, highpaying world of Latin!” Now, I’m set. Shall we begin? Πάσχω is the Ancient Greek origin that means pathos; sympathy, empathy, sorrows for someone else’s suffering. We, as carers [caregivers], have a certain Πάσχω for those who suffer. It is our passions; our strong emotional responses to help loved ones who suffer from debilitating illnesses. In many instances, life may seem unfair and no one understands that more than the caregiver. Passion is what being a carer [caregiver] is all about. Let me tell you, it isn’t easy being in the field of “caregiving;” particularly when you’ve reached a breaking point and feel as though you have nothing more to give. There comes a time you feel unappreciated, overworked and underpaid; yet, you keep going. Why? I believe, in most cases, it’s really simple; the choice you made comes from love. Do you realize how rare and precious that makes you? When you find your body is spent, your mind alternating between over-revving and fog, your soul exhausted and you feel like you can’t continue…STOP! Take a moment to be KIND to YOU, because you need to do that. Treat yourself with the same respect and love you treat others. Your loved one or ‘charge’ will not suffer one iota more for you taking that minute. I’m a Christian, and I fully admit that the last stopping place for me in the maelstrom is the Lord – what’s with that? For me, ‘be still and know that I am God’ is just shortened in those times to my mantra, "Be still. Be quiet, Breathe…" Another great outlet for the weary is laughter. My PD husband and I have been together for 37 years and raised two fine boys, now married and living on a different continent. We are blessed! But no relationship of any duration is free of strife. He’s now into his 16th year with this particular alien invasion of Parkinson’s, and as you know, it’s a little different for everyone. For him, sleep is the most gruelling time, and that will have a knock-on [knock-out] effect in daytime hours. Being that he’s got maybe 10 inches and 100lb. on me, manoeuvres can be difficult. Yet, even in the the … [caregivers] Unsung Warriors midst of his Bradykinesia, we’ll find ourselves shlapplakking (at least that’s what his Dutch parents used to call it – uncontrollable laughter) at the sublime and ridiculous ministering of me trying to help him get his clothes on or off a chair. He also had profound RBD (REM Behavioural Disorder), which means he can get up, brush his teeth, eat, etc. all while he’s asleep – fun! Because he left the gas hob [knob] on once and buttered a ball of string to eat, I now tend to follow him around during these spells; talking to him gently like he was a child. My first phrase would be, ‘look at me’ – trying to gauge if he’s really awake or asleep. That mile-long bleary stare tells me he’s asleep. ‘Hey, hon.…it’s 2 am. Do you know that?’ I’d ask. ‘Yup…’ he’d say, ‘time for coffee!’ he’d add with great gusto. Then I’d try to coax him back to bed. Getting him in and out of the car? A comedy of errors! We laugh when we can; we cry when it’s just too much. Don’t get me wrong; it’s serious caring for someone with a degenerative disease. Personally, what kills me is when my dude’s going through one of his PLMD (Periodic Limb Movement Disorder) spells. These spasms last for a few days, and every minute of the night can be sheer hell to watch, much less have. We’ve tried everything; but to no avail. It is most difficult to see him in the throes of violent agony which culminate in massive legkicks that radiates from his back like a whiplash every six or so seconds. It’s like watching someone tasered over and over again. He can’t sleep, can’t stop, and the only momentary relief is when I can get him up on his feet for a few tightly held seconds of rest. It’s the only thing that can control the leg-kicks — his own body weight. However, it’s a precarious perch I can only keep up for a while. Then I will pray amidst the rage of my mind, body and soul, at this ruinous, savage road of Parkinson’s. And I’ll say to myself and Him upstairs, ‘come on! You wouldn’t let a dog suffer so….’ Therefore we stand, holding on for dear life. I also stand convicted of my own ‘take him or break him’ bargaining which, during these moments of despair, I’ve offered up an ill-fitting sacrifice of my beloved. Once the spell is spent by utter exhaustion, a void of shame and nothingness leaves me numb. It’s brutal, undermining and deeply unsettling. We also know how this journey will end, cure aside. We just don’t entertain the idea; it serves no purpose but to make life harder. You know that old adage, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff…’? This is it, for both you and me…it might be huge and terrifying as the beastie in the wardrobe, but it’s still not in our control. So, drop it. Because that puppy will drain you dry. You don’t have to put a ‘brave-face’ on all the time – that’s far too much to ask. Yes, some people will not get it. They’ll brazenly (in a naïve but sweet intent) gravitate towards your caree [charge] – not you! Sometimes, that hurts like the dickens, but hell – claim the moment for you! For me, caring is baby-steps. One foot in front of the other, then the other foot…and don’t look at what you cannot control. Yes, it’s tough and hard and gruelling at times. And you have to learn when you need a break. Bless you for what you do. And do. And continue to do. You are LOVED…even when you don’t think so. Oh, and don’t forget to hydrate! Lisa describes herself as a ‘chaotic and vaguely confused pit-bull’ who would ‘cheerfully throttle Parkinson’s Disease’ if she could! She is a European writer and the carer [caregiver] for her husband Pete, who she sees as a ‘shameless, wanton optimist’ – she knows what a blessing that is! She has now joined us as the International Research Manager and Staff Writer for Friends of Parkinson’s. Friends of Parkinson’s • September 2015 • Page 3 The Parkinson Post Parkinson's M y husband [Lincoln] has Alzheimer’s. At least we think he does, though we cannot peer into his brain to see if the telltale tangles of errant proteins are present. But we are losing him, our daughters and I, we are losing him to a disease that steals his memory, erodes his reason, and silences his voice. My father died of Alzheimer’s and so did my father-in-law…good, smart, hardworking men whom we loved. A “Dad, you are home,” I told him. But the familiar room, with its books, including the two he had written, the paintings he and mother collected over their 60 years together, and the family photos, was no longer a haven of peace and comfort. I thought his disorientation was due to his inability to connect the externals of his environment. My father-in-law would pour over tiny photographs mounted in leatherbound booklets tied with fraying laces. These moments, from a life almost 70 years gone, before the war, before Canada, before kids, seemed to hold more meaning than his wife, his son and daughter, or even our two girls, his only grandchildren and the light of his life…no longer. He would point to a sepia street scene, brick row houses with front steps leading down to cobblestones, and would whisper to himself “Oppenshaw” in his soft Lancashire speech. He could not have told you his own name. I wonder if our fathers were trying to tell us, not so much that they couldn’t make sense of what they were seeing, rather they could no longer make sense of what they were feeling and needed to find something to cling to, something that meant “It’s okay. I know this. I’m home.” I know my husband struggles that way, sometimes. “I am all mixed up,” he says. Our dads were both in their early 80’s when their symptoms presented themselves. Lincoln was 66 years old when he first started experiencing episodes of confusion in the middle of the night. I look back and see the signs. What could we have done differently had we known? We had settled into a retirement in which we were fulfilling the promises made when we were young…promises to always welcome adventure into our lives and never hold each other back. So Lincoln climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and then rode his bike from Paris to Istanbul. We walked across England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. I plunked myself down in front of the computer and wrote and wrote and wrote. Page 4 • September 2015 • Friends of Parkinson’s By Leslie Davidson Together we picked up the travelling life we had willingly abandoned 30 years before, a life we had exchanged for the joys of living and raising our children in a little town ringed by mountains and beribboned by two perfect rivers. A heart-warming tale of two people in love “I want to go home,” my father would say. ' & lzheimer s Once again we loaded the Volkswagen camper and headed out, with no clear plan and no timeline. Several winters in a row we wandered to the southern tip of the Baja peninsula and up the windswept, eastern cape. We free camped in palm-sheltered bays, paddling our kayak to the sound of dolphins and the cranky bark of seal colonies. We rocked in a small wooden boat while grey whale mommas and their babies slipped and rolled around us. We puttered up and down the west coast of Canada and the US, clambering down cliffs to reach isolated beaches, finding humility among giant redwoods and Douglas firs. We hiked the slick rock canyons of Colorado and Utah, sat in solitude beside lakeshore campfires, and traced the shorelines of tiny, mountain-ringed lakes in British Columbia’s stunning Chilcotin country. We poked about in northern rainforests where eagles filled the sky in numbers too large to count and made plans to return and perhaps visit the Yukon and Alaska. Then life slid sideways. I developed a tremor in my left hand and arm. It only occurred when I was using it or extending it. However, according to Dr. Google, not Parkinson’s disease. I breathed a sigh of relief. My husband’s sister had recently died of complications of Young-onset Parkinson’s. My left leg began to drag. My left arm did not swing when I walked. I started to stumble. My shoulders became excruciatingly painful. Exhaustion plagued my days and sleeplessness my nights. My GP ordered a scan of my brain. He thought maybe I’d had a stroke. I was hoping for a nice little benign tumour; one that could safely be removed from my brain and my life would return to normal. You know you are in trouble when you find yourself wishing for a growth of riotous cells, a-bloom among the neurons. The scan results came back negative. I waited to see a neurologist who, after a series of physical tests, told me I had Parkinson’s disease. What? Dr. Google is not always right? The medication prescribed helped somewhat. That was the good news and the bad. You see, if the medication mitigates symptoms, a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis is confirmed. My first waking thought the morning after my diagnosis? “I want to go home.” I think instantly of my dad, and of Lincoln’s. Home. Not a physical place but one of being, a sanctuary of the self, inhabited by confidence and hope, in which the world, or at least one’s own small corner of it, makes sense. In an imagined future of walkers and wheelchairs, The Parkinson Post Parkinson's & Alzheimer's We are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.” “… a frozen gait, a frozen face and a Swiss cheese brain, there is little hope and no confidence. And just when I think I am doing really well, feeling at home within this new reality, Lincoln begins to be confused about who I am. Despair can become familiar territory; however, it is not a groove I want worn into my brain. And so, because I am loved and a lucky woman, I learn, in time, to be grateful once again for the abundant joy in my life, the staunchness of our friends and extended family, a good man by my side, and strong, compassionate young women our daughters have grown to be. I go adventuring inside my head, on the computer screen, in my notebooks, finding inspiration in memory, in a wonderful book, in a chance remark, or a trick of the light on a late winter’s evening. “Do you have a twin?” he asks me. “You look like my wife.” And now it is Lincoln’s turn. Denial can hold the truth at bay for only so long. Lincoln’s night time confusion, panicked awakenings…distressing dreams, critters in the bed, strangers in the house and our new car flummoxes him seem all too real. Our closest friends express concern. His doctor prescribes medication. Lincoln tries. He tries so hard. The pills leave him depressed for the first time in his life and make him physically ill. And, no one can assure us that, in the end, the pills will make one bit of difference. We make a choice to be as open about Lincoln’s illness as we had been about mine, to not close ourselves off or pretend all is right in our world. I know it will be hard news for people to hear. And we are, amongst almost everyone we know, mourning the loss of a beloved friend…one of a small group of outdoor-loving men, including Lincoln, which we call the “Lost Boys”. There is now, for me, such poignant irony in the name. I stumble sideways and he catches me in his arms and turns it into a clumsy waltz. I dump my first glass of wine and burst into tears. The second glass spills and this time I laugh and wonder aloud if I can’t pour it, should I be drinking it? I tell him how I enjoy the hallucinated “others” in our house, the benign strangers who appear in the daytime in Lincoln’s vision. They never want a meal or leave the toilet seat up. He sets extra places at the table and makes them tea. He waits for them to catch up when we hike. Oh, you would have to know him to see the humour in that. This is one of the oft-repeated stories of my life: Lincoln, miles ahead on a cross-country ski or hiking trail, finally thinks that maybe he should stop and wait for me. I puff up to him, exhausted, a little annoyed. “Great. You’re here!” he says, as he readjusts his pack and immediately strides off. Those of us who have hiked, skied or biked with him shake our heads at the attentiveness paid these new companions. But they become part of our lives; I find myself asking them to watch over him, over us. We make a new acquaintance by chance or fate. He is a talented sculptor of wood and stone, a storyteller, a kind, strong man whose world is as naturally inhabited by spirits as our little town is by gardenmarauding, white-tail deer. Lincoln’s hallucinations are nothing out of the ordinary to him. He sees them as blessings and tells me the old ones he sees around my husband enjoy his company very much. This helps enormously. “Who was that who hopped into my bed last night?” Then, with such kindness, he peers into my face. “Why are you crying?” Our girls live in a pretty little mountain town five hours away. They have both found admirable young men with whom to share their lives. And there are grandbabies, two of them, beautiful little boys, one for each family. We have bought a small apartment there…a grandchild one block this way, another two blocks that a way. My brain tells me this is perfect. We are in the middle of our first long visit in the new place, a month over Christmas. There is a lot of snow in the valley, and not much sun, but the town is beautiful and everyone we have met has been kind and welcoming. We go so easily, so happily between the kids’ houses and our apartment and I am grateful for this time. I know a permanent move here makes sense, for so many reasons, the biggest of which is the opportunity to be part of our grandchildren’s lives. However, my heart cannot call this home. Not yet. An e-mail from a dear friend writes: “… we’ll all continue to be connected by the invisible threads that bind us, even after you move. We are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.” These words come at the right moment, on a day when I am weary, when nightmare thinking threatens to undermine my sense of joy-no-matterwhat. I struggle to put into words why this means so much to me, when displacement seems the theme of our present and future lives. This is where I will find a home, a sanctuary and refuge from the ghouls of despair… this connection to those we love, those we like, and even those we find impossible to understand. If the day comes when Lincoln or I lose the ability to know who loves us or whom we love, I know there will be some gentle soul who remembers for us, who feels for us even if we cannot feel for ourselves. They will wipe the drool and, because I’ve made them promise, pluck a few wayward facial hairs. They will hold our hands and share their stories…and please, there must be laughter. In the meantime, I awake to a morning that holds the first bright sun in weeks. I fill the little camera I bought with picture after picture. Golden light spills slowly over mountain tops and I stand, coffee mug in hand, shivering on a balcony that gives view to a beauty I cannot attempt to describe. Lincoln joins me. “I need a better camera,” I say. “Why?” he says. “It’s all right here." Attitude is everything Friends of Parkinson’s • September 2015 • Page 5 Pondering Life The The Magic Bank Account Parkinson's Quiz How much do you know? Q: Parkinson's disease is only seen in people of advanced age. o True or o False Q: What does the body's nervous system control? A. The Five Senses B. Body weight C. Body Temperture D. All of the above Author Unknown ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL! It was found in the billfold of Coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant, Alabama after he died in 1982. Shocked? YES! Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules. Each of us is already a winner of this *PRIZE*. We just cannot seem to see it. The PRIZE is *TIME* The set of rules 1.Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life. 1.Everything you did not spend during each day would be taken away from you. 2.When we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us. 2.You may not simply transfer money into some other account. 3.What we have not used up that day is forever lost. 3.You may only spend it. 4.Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day. 5.The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,” Game Over!”. It can close the account and you will not receive a new one. What would you personally do? You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but also for all the people you love and care for. Even for people you do not know, because you could not possibly spend it all on yourself, right? You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning…right? Q: What causes Parkinson's disease? A. A severe blood infection B. Loss of the brain chemical dopamine C. Stroke D. Depression Q: There are no laboratory tests to diagnose Parkinson's disease. o True or o False Q: There are __stages of Parkinson's disease. A. 2; B. 4; C. 5; D. 7 Q:What are Lewy bodies? A. Protein deposits found in the brain B. Pockets of air found in the brain C. Microscopic crystalline matter in the brain D. A build-up of salt found in the brain For all questions, answers & scores, visit: http://www.medicinenet.com/parkinsons_ disease_quiz/quiz_result.htm 4.Yesterday is forever gone. 5.Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING. SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds? Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Think about it and remember to enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think. So take care of you, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life! Here’s wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day. Start “spending”.... DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLD. SOME PEOPLE DO NOT GET THE PRIVILEGE! Page 6 • September 2015 • Friends of Parkinson’s I'd like to live my life in such a manner that I could sell my pet parrot to the town gossi p. By Eleanor Holden (contributions by teachers, students and their parents) Events & Resources September TAI CHI FOR BALANCE, Mondays & Wednesdays, 11am. W. Flamingo Active Adult Cntr. 6255 W, Flamingo. 702-455-7742. MOVE I EXERCISE CLASSES, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11:15am to 12:15pm, (seated exercise for anyone with neurodengerative disorders) Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. 888 W. Bonneville, call Lakita Arrington. 702-483-6032. MOVE II EXERCISE CLASSES, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:30pm to 1:30pm, (standing exercise for anyone with neurodengerative disorders) Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. 888 W. Bonneville, contact Lakita Arrington. 702-483-6032. ($10 drop in price). ZUMBA GOLD, Wednesdays, 9-10am. 2651 Paseo Verde Pkwy, Suite 180. Contact Kim Riddle, 702616-4902. ($5/per session or 5 sessions for $20). AGELESS WOMAN WORKOUT, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9-10am. 2651 Paseo Verde Pkwy, Suite 180. Contact Kim Riddle, 702-616-4902. ($5/per session or 5 sessions for $20). GENTLE YOGA, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10-11am. 2651 Paseo Verde Pkwy, Suite 180. Contact Kim Riddle, 702-616-4902. ($5/per session or 5 sessions for $20). AEROBIC FUN EXERCISE CLASSES, Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, 9:30am. Fern Adair Conservatory of the Arts, 3265 E. Patrick Lane. TAI CHI FOR BALANCE, Fridays, 9-10am. Desert Breeze Community Center, 8275 Spring Mountain, Road. LV. 702-455-8334. Facilitator Tamalyn Taylor MS. Dance for Parkinson's, Wednesdays, 12:301:30pm Las Ventanas (open to the public). YOUNG ONSET PD SUPPORT GROUP of Southern Nevada, Cidney Donahoo, 702-326-6831. CidneyDonahoo@cox.net. DBS SUPPORT GROUP of Southern Nevada, Kip Smith, 702-755-5704. kslvnv@gmail.com. CAREGIVERS SUPPORT, • 2nd Friday, 10am, H2U Mountain View Office, 3100 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 114. Call 702-3814141 for info. PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S, • 4th Tuesday, @1:30pm. H2U Mountain View Office, 3150 North Tenaya Way, Suite 114. 702381-4141. HEALTHSOUTH DESERT CANYON HOSPITAL, The Parkinson’s Disease Rehabilitation Program provides a full range of rehabilitative services aimed at meeting the global range of medical, psychological and functional needs of Parkinson’s patients. 9175 W. Oquendo Rd., Las Vegas. For additional information please call 702-252-7342. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT & INVITATION IF YOU HAVE AN EVENT OR SUPPORT GROUP REGARDING PARKINSON’S Please Submit Via E-mail To: Info.ParkinsonPost@gmail.com (subject Line, Calendar) Veteran Support, Veteran Involve Parkinson (VIP), 1pm (1st Tuesday) Location TBD. Call for details 702-381-4141. This invitation to submit events and/or support group information for those with Parkinson’s, will be doing a great service for the Parkinson community and those who may not know of such services. If you know of a loved one or friends with PD, please get involved. Thank you for your time and support. PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S, • 1st Saturday, 9am. Mountain View Hospital, 3100 N. Tenaya Way, First floor. 702-381-4141. Make this day special and then pay-it-forward! • 3rd Tuesday, 1:30pm,Vida Training Center, 1875 E. Sahara Ave., Suite 430. Call 702-381-4141. Location: The Elks Lodge, 4100 West Charleston Blvd, LV Friends of Parkinson’s • September 2015 • Page 7 G Friends of Parkinson's Membership G New Member/Renewal What You Get Membership Benefits • Open Forum and Group Discussions • Support groups relating to needs of the members Medical Symposium •Annually held to bring the community the latest and most relevant Parkinson medicines, treatments and information Special Events – Parkinson’s Awareness • Meet and Greet • Annual Walk • Pancakes for Parkinson’s • Putting for Parkinson’s • Caregiver’s Collage Face’s of Parkinson’s • Portraits of the Parkinson’s o Annual DATE:__________________ (required) o New Member Parkinson Aware and Care Kit •Help with planning your steps to better care. •Contains information to help plan for any needs that may arise o Renewal NAME _________________________________________ ADDRESS _____________________________________ CITY __________________________________________ STATE _________; ZIP _________ PLEASE PRINT ______________________________________________ HOME PHONE ______________________________________________ CELL PHONE o Male o Female Date of Birth: ____________ MARITAL STATUS o Single o Married o Widowed Parkinson Post Newsletter •Monthly E-newsletter and Quarterly mailed newsletter Parkinson disease related articles, information and activities for the community Health to You • Free Health Screenings • Social Activities • Discount Travel Services • Health Educational Programs o Monthly 2015 Friends Campaign _________________________________________EMAIL Fitness Classes • Dance with PD, yoga, Tai Chi Type of Membership Active o $100.00 o $10.00 Membership Certificate + Membership Card Associate $150.00 o $15.00 Membership Certificate + 2-Membership Cards Charter o $250.00 o $25.00 •Individual, Organization or Company must be an Active Member •Membership Certificate, Plaque & 2-Membership cards Application Fee (Non-Refundable) $ 25.00 Total$________ o Payment Options: Friends of Parkinson’s accepts all major credit cards. Please complete the credit card information listed below. Method of Payment: o Check o VISA o M/C o AMEX o DISC ________________________________________ Card Number Expiration Date: ________; CCV: ________ 2015 Friends Campaign _____________________________________ Name on Card Jamillah Ali-Rahman EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “To all our long-time friends and supporters, we thank you for being there when we needed your help. Friends of Parkinson’s is a unique community of people who have something in common. Their challenges of leading a “normal” life can and does take a toll. As many know, we are working hard to provide you with options, opportunities and services to help improve your lifestyle. Please know, in order for us to continue providing services and care to the Parkinson’s community, we need your help. In order for us to continue providing the "Parkinson Post" Newsletter to you, please support "Friends of Parkinson's" by purchasing a one-year subscription to the "Parkinson Post" Newsletter for only $20.15; mailed quarterly. We want to make sure those who do not use the computer or have access to the computer will be able to stay in touch with the Parkinson community. This Newsletter is an invaluable tool as it connects the Parkinson’s and local communities. It is filled with inspiring stories, information and the latest news about Parkinson’s. Please check out our other memberships as well; Active Membership, $100 per year; Associate Membership $150 per year and the Charter Membership $250 per year. Invite your friends to join us in our endeavors to make the world a better place. Since we started the 2015 Friends Campaign on June 1, I must say it is helping with the printing, the Newsletter and distribution costs. Do come by the office at 2400 North Tenaya Way, Monday through Friday 10am to 3pm for more information about who we are and what is coming up next. Would love to see you.” The Parkinson Post Newsletter © • All rights reserved • Info.ParkinsonPost@gmail.com • Design by Michelene K. Bell Page 8 • September 2015 • Friends of Parkinson’s