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Living with Parkinson's Disease - Meet others & come say hi

Parkinson's Disease | Last Active: Dec 7 2:32pm | Replies (532)
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@stephenmcelroy

My biggest concern is how and when to tell my wife and other family and friend about this. I attend a small church and told my church family and asked to be in their prayers. I will be talking to my pastor this week one on one to get a perspective on informing all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Replies to "My biggest concern is how and when to tell my wife and other family and friend..."
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Feb 4, 2019

Hello @stephenmcelroy

I am glad to see that you are getting some support from your church on how and when to tell others about your PD diagnosis. For me, it took awhile before I could get my mind around the diagnosis and accept it. So, I waited until I was sure I was comfortable enough with the topic before I shared it with others.

One of the ways I approached it was to begin to say, "I've seen a neurologist recently about some problems I've been having for several years, (at this point you can mention the symptoms if you want to such as tremors, balance problems, etc.) I'm relieved to have a diagnosis now and a treatment plan. I have been diagnosed with PD and have started taking meds for it and I'm beginning to feel better."

This is one approach that I used, however, as @falconfly said, each person is different and has to approach "coming-out" with their own verbiage. It might even be different, depending on who you are talking with. What you say to your wife, might be different than to a friend, etc.

I look forward to hearing from you again. Will you share later how this process goes for you?

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