Monday, 20 February 2012

Playing against time - life with Parkinson's disease

I mentioned this programme on Facebook yesterday and then watched it myself in the evening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cc76r

It was a very interesting report of one person's determination to carry on living her life as she always had done, writing and performing her music all over Europe. Barabara Thompson , a celebrated saxophonist has had Parkinson's disease for twelve years and has managed it with drugs, determination and the support of her husband. The documentary film makers followed her over a period of five years and there was footage of her playing and writing her music, managing her 'down' time and discussing her treatment with a Parkinson's nurse and doctors. There was no mention of her trying any other means of controlling her PD, such as physiotherapy or Conductive Education.

There was a wonderful scene of her playing with  a group of people with PD who were singing a song about having the disease, composed by a member of the group.

 She is still performing when she can despite the difficulty of not knowing when she will be physically able to and lives in hope that a better treatment will soon be available.

I would recommend watching it - there are six more days to do so on BBC iplayer and by following the link above.

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