Woodland Grove residents’ poem details their own unique experience of living with Parkinson’s 

Every year, World Parkinson’s Day is ‘celebrated’ on 11th of April. World Parkinson’s Day is about getting to know people with Parkinson’s, and the people in their lives. Everyone’s experience of Parkinson’s is different and how they feel about it is different too.

The number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the UK is about 145,000. However, more than 1 million people in the UK are affected, either by living with Parkinson’s, or as a friend, colleague, or family member of someone who is.

World Parkinson’s Day poem

Last year Aeren Kemp, Lifestyles Assistant at our Woodland Grove Care Home in Loughton, and residents from the home who suffer from side effects of Parkinson’s disease, put together this poem.

“Is that the one that shakes?” they say,

Oh, but there’s so much more than that.

Frozen! With no warning, just a stop,

A halt

Locked.

“Over the rock” I tell myself

Kicking the stick, I battle on through

The breaks are on and I’m stuck on the spot

Then pause… and release, I can move.

Spatial confusion and directional haze

Takes over the ease of day,

My speed awareness is altered

As I whizz past or shuffle my way.

No control over pace

My limbs won’t do as they’re told

Seventy-five minutes, to put on my socks

But my self-reliance I’m trying to hold.

Independence slowly ceases

Requiring assistance for daily tasks

Missing the days where I stood tall and strong

Now waiting for help when I ask.

There’s anger through frustration

Watching others moving and bustling through

Feeling trapped, I wait for my tablets

To enable slight freedom, to be able to move.

This condition doesn’t generalise

And is no respecter of ages

No longer can I sing or shout

Voice is another thing that changes

Affecting the entire family

A journey together we all must take

Loved ones are all involved in this

It’s not just “the one that shakes.”

How the poem came about

For World Parkinson’s Day last year, Aeren spent some time speaking with some of residents who live with Parkinson’s Disease.

Aeren said: “We spoke about how it effects them mentally, emotionally and physically. Discussing the daily tasks that are affected, the mental challenges that come along, but also how it effects their loved ones around them.”

Residents opened up about their own unique experience of living with Parkinson’s, as no two people’s experience is the same.

“These thoughts, discussions and insights were compiled, grouped, and restructured into a poem that gives a little insight into what it is like for a few of our residents who live with Parkinson’s Disease.”

Find out more about Woodland Grove Care Home.