Parkinson's Disease: A Case Study

As mentioned earlier, R.K was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease in nineteen eighty-one at age forty. It was just prior to his diagnosis that R.K’s family was travelling to Edmonton, AB for a wedding. The father of the bride was a neurologist in Edmonton at the time and began to notice unusual movements in R.K, such as him slightly dragging his left foot and favoring that side. The neurologist had suggested to R.K that perhaps he should have a few tests done to see what might be causing these unusual symptoms. It was soon after that visit to Edmonton, that R.K was officially diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease, which was a “significant interruption to normal family life,” as expressed by K.K. The physicians and specialists
He would shuffle when he walked, he had troubles speaking properly, and he had a constant tremor despite his medications. Every member of the K family expressed during their interviews how upsetting it was to see someone whose mental state still seemed unchanged, but whose physical state had dramatically worsened. For the first two years of his disease, R.K lived at home, however over time, it became too difficult to function independently and he was then moved into a long-term care facility. Every month, he would be brought to the hospital for a few days while he had what was called a drug holiday. This involved the doctors taking him off all his medications and starting over to determine the best medication cocktail. Not only was this physically difficult on R.K, as he was nearly comatose during these drug holidays, but it was also difficult for his family to see him such a devitalized way. At the end of R.K’s nearly twenty-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, he began having frequent seizures and was considered palliative. It was only a few weeks later, in two thousand and three that R.K had lost his fight with Parkinson’s disease.
From the Family’s