Hi my name is Peter and thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Every hour, 2 more people are diagnosed with Parkinson's. This is my wife Cindy's story - she is one of around 153,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK:

I was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1996, when I was 49 years old.

It took me a long time to accept.

In common with many newly diagnosed people, particularly those diagnosed at a relatively young age, I simply did not believe it.

I was diagnosed a few weeks before I was due to be married. I asked Peter if he still wanted to marry me? Fortunately we have now been married for nearly 28 years.

That first diagnosis, particularly when I came to accept it, changed my whole outlook on life.

Being told I had Parkinson’s. Being told I had an incurable progressive condition. Caused me to reassess my life.

It is a shock. It knocks you for six.

When I started to get over that initial setback and accepted my condition, I decided I was not going to let it dictate my life.

I have always been positive and a fighter. I have continued with that mindset for the last 28 years.

Parkinson’s is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine plays a vital role in regulating the movement of the body. A reduction in dopamine is responsible for many of the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

A lot of people associate Parkinson’s with tremors. I have never had tremors.

There are more than 40 symptoms but Parkinson's affects everyone differently. Not everyone will experience all the symptoms.

The first thing I noticed was that I lost my sense of smell. My handwriting became like a small spider crawling across the paper.

I have been on medication since I was first diagnosed. In the main, my meds are dopamine replacement drugs.

Over the years my condition has developed. It has been controlled by the medication. I now take eight tablets a day, most of them at three hourly intervals, mainly to keep my dopamine levels up.

I get dizzy spells, particularly when I stand up. A few years ago I had a fall as a result of one of those dizzy spells and broke my neck. That took some recovering from!

I have difficulty walking because of the Parkinson’s, I can freeze when trying to walk through a doorway, my voice is very quiet. When I walk into a room I feel everyone is watching me, I get hallucinations because of both the Parkinson’s and a side effect of my medication.

There are definitely drugs and procedures that help, however there is no cure for Parkinson’s. We don't yet know exactly why people get Parkinson's.

I want to raise as much money as possible for Parkinson’s UK. Not necessarily for me. My Parkinson’s is well advanced.

Having lived with it for so long I dream of a time when there is a cure so that nobody else has to live with the condition for years and years. Even better, a time when it can be prevented.

I know these are lofty goals.

In the meantime I want Parkinson’s UK to be in the best possible position to help & campaign for those of us currently living with the condition and those who will be told, tomorrow, that they have an incurable degenerative condition.

Please consider taking a moment of your time to donate to a cause that is doing so much for and giving hope to people like me and (sadly) those who will follow.

Thank you,

Cindy xxx

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