Yes, I can.

IF you read my blog post yesterday, or had your very own copy of todays New York Times, you would now be well versed on some of the reasons a person with Parkinson's (ie me) keeps this diagnosis a secret. As I sit here writing, there have been about 75 comments to the NYT's article. While the great majority were about personal experiences with PD or were in support of the notion that the person with parkinson's should decide if he/she can do their job...this next commentary was short and to the point......and is EXACTLY why I didn't tell.  

• Libby
• U.S.

I sure hope an OB/GYN with Parkinson's isn't performing surgery.  Yikes. She's kidding...right?

1. 
   
   DAWN, Washington
   
   
   
   

   That's like saying you sure hope an OB/GYN who had three cups of coffee isn't performing surgery. While that much coffee would make MY hands shake, that's not true for everyone. You have to trust your surgeon to know his or her own limitations.

   
   

   Everyone is different. Snap judgments that people with PD automatically can't do certain things is the reason why many people conceal the disease from their employers.  BINGO!

   With the right medication, many people in the early stages of Parkinson's disease can perform tasks just as well as a person without the disease. For quite a few years after my mother was first diagnosed with PD, her meds worked so well that nobody could tell she had the disease (although she wasn't ashamed to talk about it). Her PD has progressed since then, but she still enjoys many physical activities by timing them to coincide with the periods of the day when her meds are most effective.
   
   
   
   

   Dawn, whoever you are, thanks so much for the 'rescue'.  But while you made me feel better, my friend Sheryl's thoughts struck me as quite wise because it will to be up to US to change the perception of those who judge us.
   
   
   
   

   Sheryl Jedlinski 

   Many good points were raised in this article, but I think it's important to mention 

   that those of us who are "out of the closet," talk not just to other PWP, but to the "temporarily healthy" as well. They make the decisions that often limit our lives... firing us or putting us out to pasture on disability; putting limited resources elsewhere ... 

   and they do so because they don't know us as individuals. It is easy 

   to stereotype and discriminate against people you don't know. It 

   is ultimately up to us to shape the way others see us through what we do and say. Change will come only as more of us speak up for ourselves.
   
   
   
   

   Now, I have a friend Roberta who also has PD. She wrestles with this issue because she is caught between both of these concepts...that on the one hand, because you may be judged less capable you decidedly keep your Parkinson's a secret while on the other hand your family tells you that the way to show the world that you are not diminished is to break the silence.  I understand that feeling and I tell her so....so I don't push her and I know she appreciates that.  

   So to Libby I say...Your post is not fair. Period.

   And to Roberta, one day you won't care about the Libby's of the world...but it will be your choice when you do.