'Clonmel support group changed my life with Parkinson's disease'

A Clonmel group providing support to local people with Parkinson's disease will host a vintage tea morning at Place4U on Friday, November 23, at 10am.

Founded by Ballingarry’s Mary Finnegan, the Clonmel Parkinson's Support Group has been providing valuable advice and support to local people with the chronic neurological condition the past four years.

The group, which is part of the Tipperary Parkinson’s branch and has almost 50 members, meets in Hotel Minella the first Tuesday of every month from 10:30am to 12:30pm.

Working as a nurse, Mary noticed a tremor in her hand and was subsequently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

“It took the wind out of me when I heard that I had Parkinson’s, but life hasn’t been too bad since then. Sometimes I have trouble walking, stiffness and my back gives me awful trouble but I was a nurse and use to be doing a lot of pulling and dragging,” Mary tells Tipperary Live. 

“My writing has been affected. I start off quiet well, then it gets smaller and can go all over the place. Your sense of smell goes and buttoning shirts can take longer too,” Mary continues.

Clonmel’s Suzanne Shanahan, whose father also has Parkinson’s disease, was diagnosed two years ago and has progressed a lot quicker than Mary. “My specialist doctor says I’ve had it a lot longer. I had to give up my job as a carer and can no longer drive. It has affected my whole life,” she says.

Suzanne says the Clonmel Parkinson's Support Group has changed her mindset and how she deals with the disease. “Getting to talk to other people with Parkinson's, even just about different medication and what works, has really helped me. You get an insight into the supports out there for Parkinson's, but it’s also about the support the group offers. If you’re not having a good day, you can go and have a chat and don’t feel so isolated. One lady started crying the first day she came to the group because she had been feeling so alone up until then. It can be a very isolating disease because you don’t want to keep onto your family about it and it’s easier to talk to someone going through the same thing as you,” Suzanne explains.

Mary and Suzanne feel there is a stigma attached to Parkinson's. “People don’t take Parkinson's that serious because they say ‘it won’t kill you’. It’s very hard to explain Parkinson's to people. I feel the same but my body is not the same. If you get a twitch you can tell your body to stop, but that doesn’t work with Parkinson’s.

“Getting money out of my purse at the checkout can be difficult. My brain is doing one thing and my body another. It’s a very invisible condition and to look at us you would just think we are a bit slow,” Suzanne continues.

Mary and Suzanne are calling on the Government to provide funding for a  Parkinson’s nurse specialist and support services to cover the catchment area of South Tipperary General Hospital and University Hospital Waterford. There are only five Parkinson’s nurse specialists working within the HSE system at present, based in Dublin, Limerick and Galway.

“There are simple things that could be solved by having a Parkinson's nurse specialist in the area. There are some people who don’t attend meetings and need support, and it would be good to have a specialist nurse locally who could bring things to the attention of the neurologist,” Mary says.   

They are urging the public to support their fundraiser at Clonmel’s Place4U on November 23. Admission is €5.

“The Parkinson's Association of Ireland gets no funding at all and we have to do all our own fundraisers. The group, as well as providing support, go on an outing every year and hold art and yoga classes. I would encourage anyone with Parkinson's to make contact with us on 086-1224283,” Mary adds.