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advocacy	advocacy -  trial participants rights -  creativity - presenting - make your voice heard - PD Tulip - tulip examples
living well tips	surfing the web -sleep -excursions -balance - physical therapy
et cetera	pd orgs - site map - pdtulip.com - photo-tricks - pd tulip psa

... with a little help from my friends
Life with Parkinson’s brings new challenges every day, but meeting these is easier for those of us fortunate enough to have supportive family members and friends. Still, we all suffer our share of indignities, though some of us more vocally than others.   I’ll never forget the morning I found myself sitting on the floor in my bedroom sobbing uncontrollably as I struggled to wrestle on my first pair of compression stockings. My husband was out of town, and I was supposed to be on my way to the airport to pick up a childhood friend arriving for a visit. Instead, I was trapped, unable to fully pull the stockings on or off. The Teflon slide I was sold with the promise that it would make the process easy was of no help at all. When I finally got to the airport, Diane was standing at the curb patiently reading a book, unfazed by the heat of the summer afternoon.   We headed off on our outdoor shopping marathon, with little discussion of my morning difficulties. With every step I took, the stockings grew tighter and my skin hotter and itchier. It felt like I was wearing a blood pressure cuff that never released. At my wits end, I suggested we see an early movie… any movie.              Sheryl and her friend, Diane, in college  top	Sitting in the dark, sparsely populated theater, all I could think about was how I had to take the stockings off while I still had feeling in my legs. I rolled up my pants leg and started tugging on the stockings, which now were stuck to my clammy legs. It was then that I understood why compression stockings do not come in black fishnet.   Hearing me grunt and groan and feeling me shake all the seats in our row, Diane turned and asked what I was doing. She tried to be sensitive to my feelings and not laugh too loudly. Not laughing at all would have been impossible.   The next thing I knew, Diane sprang into action, grabbing my legs one at a time, throwing them across her lap, and yanking my stockings off.   Fortunately, no one was sitting close enough to see her undressing me. It was like something out of an “I Love Lucy” episode.   Good friends know when you need help and discreetly lend a hand, without being asked or saying a word.   “When we were growing up, I never envisioned this is how we would end up in our mid 50’s,” I told Diane, choking back my tears.   “A lot of older women who are best friends walk down the street arm in arm even if neither needs help,” Diane said. “It’s just a show of affection.”   She had me up until the ”older women” comment.    top

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