Joyce Hagen is the facilitator of the Shawano Parkinson’s Support Group. Her husband, Ken, has had the disease for seven years.
The group is for people who have Parkinson’s and their caregivers. They learn the latest treatments and talk about new medications and research.
“There are a lot of things that are going on,” Hagen said. “It’s not a pity party.”
Parkinson‘s is a disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. It’s a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system causing loss of control of body movement. There is no cure.
The group learns about the progression of the disease, which usually starts around retirement age. It can also affect younger people. Actor Michael J. Fox got it early in life.
“There are a lot of different symptoms,” Hagen said.
Some of them are shakiness, pain, inability to walk straight and losing balance. These things are caused by the brain’s inability to make dopamine.
Ken Hagen takes medications several times a day and is able to function on his own. The longer people take the medication, the less effective it becomes.
“The support group is a really nice place to get together,” said Joyce Hagen, who is a retired registered nurse. “You learn how to cope with problems as they come up.”
They also talk about other things like how the disease affects the person and his family financially.
“We look at all aspects of living with Parkinson’s,” she said.
The group helps with finding different ways of treating the symptoms. New treatments, such as timed-release capsules, are coming out all the time.
“People are living longer because they are getting better medical treatment,” Hagen said.
Keeping active helps, too. Ken goes to a Parkinson’s exercise group, which is paid for by his insurance, at Total Fitness.
You don’t need to be a resident of Shawano County to attend the group’s meetings, which are held from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month from March through November in the River Room at Shawano’s City Hall. The next meeting is March 10.
For more information, call Joyce Hagen at 715-526-5104.
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