Boston Scientific: When a Loved One Has Parkinson’s Disease

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / December 12, 2023 / Boston Scientific

Eleanor O'Sullivan was in a shopping mall food court in 2011 when her partner of more than six years, Ivan O'Regan, took her hand and looked at her as if he had something to say. She stopped him before he could utter a word.

"Wait, we're not doing this here," Eleanor recalls telling Ivan in that moment. "I knew he had something big to tell me."

Big turned out to be an understatement. When they got home, Ivan shared that he'd just been diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease. He was 31 years old. Eleanor was 32.

Now, over a decade later, Eleanor shares how Ivan's diagnosis changed both of their lives-and how a Boston Scientific treatment helped them take a turn for the better.

Ivan's symptoms were subtle at first. He was finding it difficult to type certain keyboard commands, like control-alt-delete. When he'd lift his hand up, he noticed it shaking a little bit.

We now know these were early signs of Parkinson's disease. But it wasn't until Ivan took me to the emergency room one day after I'd cut my finger that he ultimately talked to a doctor about his symptoms. The doctor recommended he come back for a brain scan.

A few weeks later, we found ourselves in that food court.

A slow progression of Parkinson's symptoms

When we started searching to learn more about Parkinson's, all we saw were images of older people. The advice we found didn't speak to us at all.

We were in denial as well, thinking, This isn't supposed to be happening. We're just starting out in life. For the first two years, Ivan had appointments every six months. While his symptoms were manageable, we had so many questions: Can Ivan keep working? Am I going to have to look after him indefinitely? Can we have a family?

One night, Ivan started sobbing in bed and asked, "What's to become of me?" I didn't have an answer for him. But I said, "Whatever it is, we'll get through it together."

At first, life went on as usual for the most part. Ivan is an accountant and continued to work. I also continued working in the finance department of a multinational company. We had children: Effy, who's now 6 years old, and Ellis, who's 5.

Then, Ivan's Parkinson's symptoms started getting worse. He'd have to lay down in an empty conference room when he was at the office. He also had painful stiffness down the left side of his body and muscle cramping that made typing difficult. He went on leave in summer 2018 and hasn't returned since.