Dennis Jay O'Donnell

Taking on Parkinson's Dennis Jay O'Donnell

Practicality and a large dose of humor ... Taking on Parkinson's is one man's journey to lead a full life with PD by tackling and adapting to the disease's physical and emotional idiosyncrasies. Diagnosed with Parkinson's at the age of 54, this retired economist has dealt with every difficulty the chronic disease has thrown at him with practicality and a large dose of humor. Instructed by his wife that they were going to "do something outside your comfort zone every year," Dennis O'Donnell has dealt with airline rigmarole, zip lining freedom, freezing and trembling during handball, grandchildren who see him as an overgrown playmate, and being bodily lifted into a rocking catamaran in the Caribbean by a woman barely half his size -- all in the name of keeping on keeping on. He talks about facing the same problems as others affected by the disease: the early signs of Parkinson's, Parkinson's disease gait, freezing in place, unexpected emotions, side effects of PD medication and the intricacies of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). The book gives the Parkinson's disease patient and the Parkinson's caregiver a jargon-free glimpse of what PD is like and how life can be fully lived in spite of this -- at the moment -- incurable disease.