Doing it with Sole For Parkinson's Disease

Sixteen years ago, at the age of 49, our husband/father/uncle/brother-in-law was
diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Because his mother, Molly, had lived under the shadow of the same illness, Carl had already suspected PD (as Parkinson's is often abbreviated) as the cause of some strange symptoms he was beginning to have, even prior to his diagnosis.

For a long time, this disease was a quiet fact of our family’s life and had limited
impact. Over time, we have all adjusted to life with Parkinson’s, although the
disease has progressed to impact a variety of everyday tasks. PD is an unpredictable
disease—some days the disease is barely in evidence, while other days even the most
ordinary tasks, walking through a door or standing upright, become challenging.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive movement disorder that affects
approximately one million people in the U.S. PD causes decreased production of
dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is necessary for, amongst other things, movement
control. Parkinson’s symptoms vary, but can include tremors, rigidity, slowness of
movement and lack of balance.

Parkinson’s is a family disease. Every one of us has been affected and thus we are all
working together to support Carl and help others who are similarly inflicted. Carl has
benefited from the continuity of excellent patient care, clinical drug trials and cutting
edge research that the Parkinson’s Institute provides. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to fund
the Parkinson’s Institutes on-going work and in so doing, help find the treatment and
ultimate cure that will benefit not just our family, but all those living with Parkinson’s
Disease.