One of the most powerful influences on our satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with things that happen to us is what we are expecting, and that
in turn depends in part on our previous experiences. This is true whether we
are talking about our reactions to an evening out or to the news that we have a
medical condition like Parkinson’s.
The experiences of medically-trained people like
neurologists and their non-medical patients are very different. Without knowing
what you thought the cause of your problem might be, it’s difficult to guess your
first reaction to the diagnosis but, if you did feel as shocked and dismayed as
your question suggests, you would not be unusual. There is no doubt that there
are lots of disadvantages to having Parkinson’s including the fact that, although treatment is available,
there is as yet no cure.
A possible clue to your impression that the neurologist
thought you were lucky can be found in that last sentence. Neurologists deal mainly
with conditions for which, like Parkinson’s, there is presently no cure, but
for many of the other conditions there is no effective treatment either. In
some conditions (not Parkinson’s)
the life expectation after diagnosis may be quite limited. So if you can
imagine yourself in the neurologist’s place, knowing all that they know, then you
can perhaps see why they feel much better about giving a diagnosis for which
some treatment and the hope of improvement – especially in the short and medium
term – can be offered. However, understanding how such attitudes can arise does
not mean that they should be encouraged. If we want to establish trust between people
with Parkinson’s and doctors, in order to work well together over many years
after diagnosis, then doctors need guidance about how to give the diagnosis and
develop an attitude to Parkinson’s which is both honest and hopeful and which
also acknowledges people’s fears and uncertainties. It is no help when you are grieving
about breaking one leg to be told that you are lucky not to have broken two!
