Good news is rare in devastating diseases...but this is huge!  And I came face to face with how it is happening this year.  A (relatively) short version of the long story...here goes!

My husband has been donating to the Michael J Fox Foundation as long as I've known him, maybe because he has family members who suffered from the (so far) incurable disease.  About two years ago I saw a Facebook ad for people who didn't have Parkinson's but did have a loss of sense of smell (not from Covid) to encourage us to participate in a foundation study called PPMI.  That was me!  I felt like I could support my husband's interest in tackling the disease, so I signed up and was accepted as one of 4000 people around the world being tested regularly to help advance the research into early indicators of the disease.

First I flew to New Haven, then to New York City. After a couple days of testing in each city, I was planning to come back each year for at least five years so they could watch me for any clues as to how the disease is related to smell loss.  They had recently found a "marker", a folded protein, that appears in skin and spinal fluid...so my scheduled testing included skin biopsies and spinal taps.

Sadly, during a brain MRI they discovered something that disqualified me from continuing my participation, at least temporarily.  It was a golf-ball sized benign tumor under my forehead that was removed at OSU/James Hospital 8 weeks ago yesterday.  Too bad this wasn't the thing that had caused my smell loss, but it was causing other mild symptoms (unbeknownst to me!) that have now improved. 

I have only a few minor recovery issues lingering, but I'm teaching my full schedule again and looking forward to adding more classes....especially in my new certification, Dance for PD(r)! Since I can't be in the study for now, I'm thrilled that I can bring the love of dance, and its data-driven approach to delaying symptoms of Parkinson's to folks battling the disease.

There is a wonderful video on this website to learn about PPMI and the work of the foundation going forward.  I hope you enjoy it and pass it along.
https://www.michaeljfox.org/parkinsons-biomarkers?em_cid=mc-a1bVL000002OrgL

When you see my classes posted for Dance for PD, I hope you share them with friends and family who would enjoy spending an hour a week with me.  If you are an instructor who would like to add Dance for PD modality to your line dance instruction, I'd be happy to answer any questions!

- Edie Driskill