About ‘Diary of a YOPD’
My name is Iain and in June 2024 I was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson's Disease at the age of 38.
‘Diary of a YOPD’ is my ongoing personal account of adapting to life with the condition, along with things learned and other observations along the way.
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I had two immediate thoughts as I left the neurologist’s office after being told the news of the diagnosis.
One, I want to run a marathon again and, two, I want to do whatever I can to be a positive influence around the cause and the community.
I want to raise awareness, engagement and understanding of the condition and, most of all, cultivate a supportive community for those who need it.
I want to share exciting things that I've done or things that I'm excited about doing, but also show a little bit of the reality about life.
Hopefully these posts and the conversation around them can be a support for others going through the same thing, and raise awareness about something which I can already see is broadly misunderstood and severely underfunded in the UK and beyond.
I've already encountered a really welcoming community - which is helpful considering the lack of structured support - and I want to do what I can to support that.
Most of all, I want to show that life goes on and that you can still do fun things and have a purposeful existence despite a degenerative neurological condition.
"It's a life sentence, but it doesn't have to be a death sentence."
I've heard that phrase a few times in the last couple of months and find it quite inspiring.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.
