Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Holiday! 

It is a busy time of year but I wanted send along good wishes for the holiday, pass along a reminder or two and note some items of interest in the Parkinson’s community.

Reminder number one:  November is National Caregivers  Month.  Yes the month is about over but I know that you, like me, are  thankful for your care partner(s) every day of the year.  Remember there are lots of resources available for care partners and one of the best, available from the Parkinson’s Foundation, is the Caring and Coping guide, written for caregivers at every stage of PD.  Download load a copy at this link.

Reminder number two:  Tuesday the 28th is Giving Tuesday.  This is a great opportunity to make a donation to your favorite charity and, in many cases, have it matched.  For example the Michael J Fox Foundation is shooting to raise $1million in 1 day with every donation matched by anonymous donors.  Many other charities have similar opportunities on Tuesday, so scrape the bottom of your pocket book or wallet after Black Friday and Cyber Monday and help us find a cure for PD or the charity of your choice.

Item of interest number one:  This article  Neurological disorders – including Parkinson’s – are leading source of disability globally  points out that PD is becoming pandemic and we must take action to find a cure.  This summary is worth the few minutes it will take you to read.

Item of interest number two:  The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has launched Fox Insight — an online clinical study that empowers people with PD to partner with researchers and accelerate the development of breakthrough treatments. I have talked about Fox Insight in previous posts but, if you haven’t joined yet, now is the time, your data is needed as we work to find a cure.  Click on the link above to get more information and join us.

Item of interest number three:  The next World Parkinson’s Congress will be June, 2019 in Kyoto, Japan.  Soaring With Hope has started a project to make origami cranes for an art installation to display at the WPC.   Each crane represents a person withParkinson’s or a person impacted by Parkinson’s. They are asking each person to give their message of hope, which will be written on a crane.  They have a goal of 10,000 cranes to bring to the WPC, each of them with a message of hope written on it to help raise awareness and HOPE for PD globally.  Please take a minute to click on this link and add your WORDS OF HOPE, and please spread the word to get others to join in and participate.  Thanks to Sharon Krischer (blogging as Twitchy Woman) for providing this information on her blog.

On this Thanksgiving day I am thankful for the support of my wonderful wife, my family, my friends and all of you who take the time to read my occasional posts. Thank you all and Happy Thanksgiving!