I loved the camaraderie of meeting so many people living positively with Parkinson’s (a club none of us expected to join). Laurel Jensen, First time attendee
Going to my fourth World Parkinson Congress was guaranteed to be a lot of fun. Having been to three previous WPC’s in the last 10 years, I have met a very special group of people, all of whom have Parkinson’s. We all looked forward to seeing each other again, in person, for the first time in 3 years. It was Party Time!
My group of 70+ Twitchy Women was ready to invade Phoenix for the week to learn about what was new and exciting for people with Parkinson’s. With over 4000 delegates, including doctors, health care professionals, scientists, researchers, care partners, and most of all – People with Parkinson’s, it was definitely going to be a great 3 1/2 days.
What I didn’t count on was the fact that I literally crashed on Monday afternoon. The extreme heat, the crowds, and the excitement became overwhelming, and my PD went out of control. I headed back to my hotel room for several hours, missing a few great speakers that I had been looking forward to seeing. Fortunately, with some rest and a shower, I recovered enough to return to the convention center near the end of the day.
This year, we were able to give Twitchy Woman scholarships to 18 women who were attending for the first time. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the fund. Your generosity made it possible for many of these women to attend who would not have been able to come otherwise. They will be sharing their experiences at the WPC over the next few weeks.
Three years ago, in Barcelona, we discovered that Twitchy Woman had taken on a life of its own. It was no different in Phoenix. The name was recognizable everywhere we went and always elicited a smile (along with some much-needed dopamine drops!)
Some takeaways from the WPC
There is something about People with Parkinson’s that whenever we are together, you can feel the joy in the room. We heard a lot about Community. (You saw it first here with our new t-shirts designed by Farrel Levy, which are all about Community).
The other thing mentioned a lot was HOPE. We may not have a cure in sight, but there is a lot of hope that there will be better early detection and better disease-modifying treatments that slow down or even stop the progression of PD.
Women and PD issues were discussed in many places, with a lot of emphasis on younger women. There is research about the effect of hormones on PD progression, pregnancy, and Parkinson’s and more. I don’t remember hearing much at all about young women and PD at previous WPC’s, so this was definitely a step in the right direction.
A very talented group
Tuesday night featured the first-ever Performance Lounge at the WPC. Comedian Papa Robbie served as the Emcee for 22 different acts that included People with Parkinsons, Care Partners, and others who sang, danced, read poetry, did Stand Up comedy and more. There was even a hilarious recitation of “Prinderella and the Cince”. But the best, in my opinion, was Mr. Twitchy and his rousing version of The Eagles’ “Witchy Woman”. I dare you not to sing along!
More stories and photos to come soon.
Sunday Mornings with Twitchy Woman
We had a wonderful program on May 31 with Kristine Meldrum, who talked about her new book, How to Build a Parkinson’s Exercise Cocktail Plan. Watch it by clicking below.
Date Change for Jim O’Connell, author of Incurable Gifts
Jim O’Connell will join me on Sunday, June 28, not June 7, as originally advertised. We will meet at our regular time: 1 PM ET, 10 AM PT.
Register here
Have a great week!
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