Hello blog,
Life has been busy lately and so I just haven’t had time to blog, especially since my immune system has been misbehaving.Last week we were dealt a massive blow. Riaan has been diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s disease. Understandably, people have some questions so here are some answers:
Q: How did this diagnosis come about?
A: Riaan has a history of repetitive strain injury, which is par for the course as a software engineer. And what we thought was his RSI was interfering with his quality of life, so I nagged him to go to our GP. She did x-rays but couldn’t see any thing obvious so she referred him to an orthopedic surgeon. The orthopedic surgeon referred Riaan to a neurosurgeon who then referred Riaan to the neurologist who made a preliminary differential diagnosis of a brain tumor or a stroke or Parkinson’s. And required an MRI and extended blood and urine tests in order to make the diagnosis of atypical young onset Parkinson’s Disease.
Q: What’s the prognosis?
A: Because of this being atypical Parkinson’s disorder the neurologist has no idea of progression and whether it will get worse.
Q: What is the next step in this process?
A: Getting in with a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders including Parkinson’s. Two specialists have been recommended to us and we are in the process of getting appointments.
Q: Is there a family history?
A:No.
Q: How does this affect our plans for the future?
A: The most significant change is that we are unlikely to be successful in our application to move to Australia because Parkinson’s is a degenerative condition. So for now, we are not moving countries. Career wise we will take it as it comes but we are slowly going to shift to my career and income becoming more important.
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So we are now adjusting to a new reality, taking it one step and one day at a time.
Love and life altering news,
Trisha