Such A Cruel Disease

I write this story not for sympathy but for awareness for those that don’t know about the cruel disease of, PSP, or as we know it, Progressive supranuclear palsy. Progressive supranuclear palsy is a rare neurological condition that can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. It's caused by increasing numbers of brain cells becoming damaged over time. Some scientists are even beginning to feel that this disease can come from aluminum products. The life span from diagnosis is anywhere from a few years to seven years. Of course, some people live longer than seven years like my father for instance who happened to outlive a lot of patients in his study group. The initial first signs we started experiencing with dad that made us realize something was wrong, just so happens to be one of the first symptoms of PSP, sudden loss of balance when walking that typically results in repeated falls, often backwards. We got dad a cane when this first started happening but then it progressed as he would tend to lose his balance more so we upgraded dad to a walker. That way if dad periodically got tired of walking he was able to sit and we could push him without the worry of his balance. In the beginning stages dad was still able to talk but it was mostly a simple “hello” and “goodbye.” We were also having to make fruit smoothies since he could no longer drink thin liquids like water or sodas since he was choking more. This is when the handy stir straws you get from MacDonalds came in handy as it made it easier for dad to drink stuff. Eventually the second stage of this cruel disease came along, muscle stiffness, particularly in the neck. We eventually bought dad a wheelchair as his balance had progressed. Communication changed to thumbs up and thumbs down or a simple head nod and we were having to help feed dad since he could no longer feed himself. In this stage we brought in occasional help of care takers that would help us since dad was a pretty heavy guy from how athletic he was. The care takers would help with transferring him from wheelchair to recliner, help feed him when we couldn’t, change and bathe dad as this was just about when the third stage came upon us. Extreme tiredness. Most of the time dad was good at being awake but other times when we went out on our adventures to get dad out of the house, he would start to fall asleep either in the car or his wheelchair. When eating we would have to remind him to try and hold his head up and to stay awake as he would start to doze off from being exhausted as this was part of his disease. Then came the last symptom, changes in personality, like irritability, apathy (lack of interest) and mood swings. Luckily we didn’t experience any of that as we always brought dad with us on the crazy adventures we had so he was up for pretty much anything! Although PSP isn't fatal, symptoms do continue to worsen and it can't be cured. Complications that result from worsening symptoms, such as pneumonia (from breathing in food particles while choking during eating), can be life threatening. I really hope nobody else has to experience this cruel disease like my dad did.