Today I had an interview with a lady named Renee White. Her mother, Patty Dailey, has Parkinson's disease, and Renee wanted to discuss her mother's conditions with me to see if maybe I could be of some help. I wanted to get some background information about her mother's condition. It's important for me to know the level of severity of Mrs. Dailey's condition as well as her lifestyle.

Me: How old is your mother, Mrs. White?
White: She is 61 years old (NINDS, 2002).

Me: How long has she been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease?
White: Well, we found out that she had PD about 7 years ago. She had been having some symptoms for a while before that though; we just didn't know what it was.

Me: What has the doctor told you about her diagnosis?
White: Well, when we first found out, he told us that she was doing really well. The disease wasn't affecting her too badly. However, over the past year, she's gotten worse. The doctor said that the disease has caused her muscles to weaken; which may be a cause of her soft, monotone, stuttering speech (Parkinson's Disease Foundation, 2002).

Me: Now, when you said before that you noticed some symptoms, what kind of symptoms are you referring to?
White: Well, I'm not really sure what the first symptoms were, that was along time ago. I remember though, one day when I was over at her house and she was trying to get a drink, it took her a really long time. You see, my mother has always been very active and it was odd that she, in my opinion, seemed to be struggling. She moved a lot slower than normal (Schwab, Doshay, 2002). I remember thinking, that's not Mom.

Me: Does she still stay pretty active?
White: In my opinion, yes. She tries her hardest to do things on her own. She does not want to be dependant on someone else. She is able to take care of herself, most of the time; it just takes her a little longer than usual. But she can do things like brush her teeth, take a shower, dress herself, feed herself, and other activities like that (Schwab, Doshay, 2002).

Me: It sounds like she stays very positive.
White: Yes, she does. She has been very positive. Sometimes she gets very aggravated though, like when an activity takes her twice as long as it used to. Then she starts to get frustrated and doesn't take her time, which just makes the situation worse (Schwab, Doshay, 2002). She also becomes discouraged when people cannot understand her. Lately, when she talks, I have trouble figuring out what she is trying to say. I hate asking her to keep repeating herself, but I can't hear her half the time.

Me: Why do you think you have such a hard time understanding what she says?
White: Well, she talks very quietly. Sometimes she talks in a whispering voice. I have to pay really close attention to hear her. If the TV or radio is on, I cannot hear her. Mom also mumbles a lot. So when I can hear her, sometimes it doesn't help because I can't understand what she is saying (NINDS, 2002).

Me: Does your mom ever have trouble drinking or eating? Does she cough or choke sometimes?
White: Yes, sometimes. It really scares me, so I always try to eat dinner with her or make sure someone is there. At first, it wasn't much of a problem for her, but lately, it's been getting worse. She has trouble chewing her food up all the way and ends up swallowing food that is too large…it’s not chewed up enough (Shwantz, 2002).

Me: Does she have trouble drinking liquids at all, or is it just with solid foods.
White: No, she has trouble with liquids too.

Me: Have you ever noticed her clearing her throat when she is eating?
White: Yes, that happens sometimes (Shwantz, 2002).

Me: Has your mother ever had pneumonia?
White: Nope.

Me: So are you and your mother pretty close? Do you stay with her a lot?
White: I see my mother usually at least once a day. We are very close. I have two children, ages 5 & 7, and she loves them so much. She goes with us to their games and dance classes.

Me: If you are busy, does she usually have to stay by herself?
White: No, my sister and her are close too. Mom also has neighbors who she is friends with. So I don't worry about her being left along or feeling lonely.

Me: Well, it sounds like she is in a very healthy environment. She has loved ones to help her out, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Are there any other issues that you wanted to talk about today? Any problems that you wanted to tell me that we haven't discussed?
White: No, I think that's all.

Me: Ok, well why don't we go ahead and set an appointment for the beginning of next week, say Tues. at the same time with your mother?
White: That sounds good.

Me: I'm looking forward to seeing you then, bye!
White: Bye.

After talking with Mrs. White, I was able to get a lot of information about her mother, Mrs. Dailey. Mrs. Dailey has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. She has had it for approximately seven years, and her symptoms are starting to progressively worsen. She has problems chewing and swallowing. I will need to try to work with Mrs. Dailey to see if I can get her to move the food around in her mouth to chew it up all the way, and also suggest that she have some easy consistency types of foods (Shwantz, 2002). Also, suggest cutting up food into small pieces so they are easier to chew and not as dangerous (Schwab, Doshay, 2002). I will need to work with Mrs. Dailey's speech so that she can talk louder and learn to over articulate so that her daughter and friends can understand her. These are some areas I know I will be working on with Mrs. Dailey. After meeting with her next Tuesday, I will be able to see more of her strengths and weaknesses and have a better idea of what specific activities we need to cover.

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