Happy New Life? Finding a Cure Together!

Posy is making her usual New Year's resolutions: To find a dance class and to attend the dance class! And, to eat more healthily (in particular, to eat more protein and less sugar).

Simple gratitude

Parkinson's, funnily enough, and then COVID, had made Posy realize how much she appreciated the "little things" in life. There has been a post on Youtube for ages of an old lady of 103 who said, "When I wake up each morning, I give thanks that I am alive for another day."

Such simple gratitude, hope, simplicity, and grace is inspirational. Whenever Posy sees a person suffering (illness, pain, or loss) and yet they are optimistic and serene, she feels awed, if a little ashamed.  Maybe, after all the horror of the last 2 years, we will all be more tolerant, more thankful.

How amazing if, like the 103-year-old, we have one more day to achieve that small goal? One more day to learn how to live well in spite of this crummy disease and its lousy prognosis. One more day to feel the earth beneath our feet. One more day to say: I'm sorry; I love you; how can I help you?; Thank you.

Anxiety about the future

The world has changed so quickly. However, that anxiety about the future seems to be hovering like a dark cloud.

Pre-COVID, Posy used to dread another world war or increased hostilities, as it might make international travel (and therefore, seeing her daughter) impossible. She was glad she would not be alive when artificial intelligence took over, as suggested in futuristic films. (Suggestion: To be on the safe side, always be polite to Alexa!) 

Posy could not imagine living in a world where free speech might be prohibited, people not allowed to be different, individuality suppressed

In this together

Mid-COVID, life felt surreal. Suddenly, in lockdown, the streets were deserted. Luckily, Posy lives in an idyllic country village in England, so the permitted daily hour's walk was lovely.

The endless sunshine of 2020 allowed her to relax in her pretty cottage rose garden rather than in a hot, stuffy, apartment in a city. But is was still eerily quiet everywhere ... well, except for the continuous news reports! 

She watched as exhausted nurses and doctors cried, detailing the ghastly effects of the virus. And this was a global pandemic! No one was fighting each other over this. Mostly, the wealthy countries tried to help poorer ones. 

Was this Armageddon actually bringing the world together as countries tried to face these new challenges? Was everyone prioritizing human kindness over vanity? So what if beauty treatments were not permitted? Rich or poor, everyone was in the same boat!

Feeling optimistic

Posy was inordinately grateful that she had food to eat and that she lived in a country with a free, if over-stretched, National Health Service. Charitable donations were easy compared with the sacrifices made by others. More importantly, greed and hatred seemed generally to have been replaced by generosity and genuine empathy. 

There were still terrifying incidents, in Afghanistan and in (somehow close-to-home) Washington DC. But otherwise, it seemed as though the world was becoming more unified.

And then life looked even more hopeful when the amazing scientists, who had worked tirelessly from day 1 produced a vaccine. Wow! We began to relax and miraculously, finally, the world began to open up once more. Peace and love ... Posy felt optimistic and hopeful for a better future. Then ... BOOM! Omicron landed on our heads.

Accessing medications

As a person with Parkinson's, in spite of initial rumors that there might be problems with supplies of health related items, Posy was still able to get hold of all her meds. But she was worried about how quickly the world had changed. If this happened again, and with more severity, would everyone be able to access their meds?

What would happen if Parkinson's patients had no medications? One tends to forget what it would be like, until one actually does forget to take a pill on time! When Posy takes her meds on time, she manages to be more or less symptom free for 24 hours.

Certainly, she is not having as long and eventful days as her friends, but it is ok.  Sometimes, however, she gets complacent and misses a dose, or is too focused on her music writing that she tells herself, "In a minute ..." and "Oh dear!" when that shaky feeling hits.

That weight descends on your shoulders. It fills you up and slows you down. This is how it would start if she had no access to levodopa. How would it end?

Praying for a cure

Posy's life is definitely enhanced by the medications that allow her to tolerate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. She prays that the success of the global work done on preventing COVID and its permutations will inspire researchers in their quest to find a cure for diseases such as Parkinson's.

As in any endeavor, it is better if the scientists of the world can share their findings and work together to beat this. United we stand.