Parkinson’s sufferer Glenda Dyson has to take 15 tablets a day. Photo: Damjan Janevski
For one Wyndham Vale mother, waking up at 3am and calling for her son to get her medication while she’s lying on the floor, unable to move, is an almost daily occurrence.
Glenda Dyson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 13 years ago, aged 34.
Her condition has got progressively worse, and when the 15 tablets she takes every day start to wear off, she’s a prisoner in her own body.
Her son Luke, 15, has become her carer, balancing high school with his mother’s needs.
What makes the situation even more painful for Ms Dyson is the fact that an operation could almost rid her of the symptoms of the disease, which affects the control of body movements.
Ms Dyson is a candidate for deep brain stimulation, an operation that could improve her condition by 90 to 95 per cent.
But because the single mother cannot afford the $50,000 needed for the operation, she’s being forced to spend up to two years on a public waiting list.
“I’m deteriorating fast,” Ms Dyson says.
“If go down the street I’ll get stuck, because the medication wears off and I can’t walk any further. I’ll have to wait for this operation, but I’ll probably be bed-ridden by then.”
Ms Dyson said she had lost all quality of life and sometimes dreaded waking up in the morning.
Parkinson’s Victoria is organising a fund-raising walk for sufferers of the disease on Sunday, August 31.
The annual event in Melbourne’s CBD raises awareness and funds for services and research to improve the quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s.
For more details, visit www.parkinsonswalk.com.au.
