Day 8

10th Annual World MSA Day

In February 2019, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

Late last year, that diagnosis was rescinded in favor of something much less understood by the medical community: Multiple System Atrophy.

This is a pretty common turn of events for people with this neurodegenerative disorder. MSA looks a lot like Parkinson’s in the early stages, which can inhibit early treatment.

I’ve never written about it before. It didn’t feel like my story to tell. Even now that I’ve been asked to, I find I don’t really know what to say.

It’s frustrating to watch. In 2009, my dad hiked Everest. In 2019, he needed a cane to get around the house. He was only 58 then. Now, at 60, he uses a wheelchair more than 50% of the time.

On World MSA Day (today!), the MSA community asks people to walk a mile (or whatever people can) and light a candle at 8 pm local time to raise awareness. So I know what I’m doing tonight.

I started the Writer’s Notebook as a 28-day challenge to find joy in writing again. Traditionally, a writer’s notebook is a collection of observations, reactions, ideas, questions, memories, quotes, sketches, lists, snippets of moving language, or some combination of the above. (Sometimes they’re also called Commonplace Books!) Want to join in? Leave a comment below and I’ll check out your work!