Natalia - Parkinson's disease

Age at interview: 63

Age at diagnosis: 55

Brief Outline:

Diagnosed in 1999, Natalia takes Madopar and Mirapexin but has times during the day when she feels weak, and has difficulty standing and understanding and participating in conversations.

Background:

Widow, 1 adult daughter, living alone, retired university lecturer.

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Natalia saw a consultant who did not take enough time to assess her condition. He dismissed her symptoms of Parkinson's disease saying she'd 'been reading about it'.

 Anyway I went to see the specialist, and he was very cavalier and he only watched me walk over three yards. So you couldn’t really see within three yards whether my gait was changed or not. It wasn’t enough to see that. And he obviously didn’t like the fact that I thought I had Parkinson’s and that I had been reading about it, because he then wrote a letter to my GP saying, “[this lady] thinks she’s got Parkinson’s, but of course she’s been reading about it. I will see her again in a year’s time.” Well, this didn’t solve my problem at all, because I knew there was something wrong with me. I guessed it was probably Parkinson’s and this man refused to diagnose it for me. So I went back to my GP and I had to ask to see a private specialist, which I shouldn’t have to have done. But this was the only way I seemed to be able to have to get it diagnosed.