Tag: Lianna Marie

As part of the Parkinson's Path, Lianna Marie asks “How do we find happiness?” A large part of happiness is under our control. We have to choose to be happy. Not to say that life will be joyful every day with Parkinson's, but let's define what happiness would look like – is it having a productive life, staying connected with my loved ones, stay in my job longer?

As part of the Parkinson's Path, Lianna Marie says Hope and faith are different: The majority of people have a faith in something higher than themselves. It played a huge role for my mother's battle with Parkinson's. The disease can be so overwhelming, but a lot of people point to faith as a means of rescue.

As part of the Parkinson's Path, Lianna Marie says that hope is a key part of everything, fighting illnesses or even difficulties in life. We developed an initial "H.O.P.E. test" to assess attitudes and feelings about Hopefulness, Optimism, Practicing acceptance, and Enlisting the help of others.

Lianna Marie says that hope is crucial for those diagnosed with Parkinson's. Having hope can be more important than medication or medical procedures. Simply having hope makes your brain release endorphins that fight pain, an asset for Parkinson's, so we can physically change by changing our mindset. And there has also been an explosion of treatments in the last decade.

Lianna Marie describes her family experiences with Parkinson's following the diagnosis of the disease. Her mother's diagnosis was confirmed at 49 years old, when Lianna Marie was in her teens. Her mother had an arresting tremor, and the doctors assessed it as "the better kind" of Parkinson's, and she was able to work another 10-15 years. Diagnosis for everyone is different.

Lianna Marie describes her personal experiences with Parkinson's, her mother having lived with the disease for 30 years.

Lianna Marie is the author of Everything You Need To Know About Parkinson's Disease and Everything You Need to Know About Caregiving for Parkinson's Disease. Her mother was diagnosed 30 years ago, back when books on the topic were written for doctors, rather than patients and caregivers. There are different types of Parkinson's, every case is different, and there are other neuro-degenerative diseases similar to Parkinson's.