A Wonderful Gift
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2004 1:28 pm
Hi all
I just want to share this with you all.
My mum's best, best friend (Robyn) is 57yrs old. A little over 3 years ago shewas diagnosed with what we all thought was Parkinson's, but within months it was soon clear that there was something else going on: Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).
Robyn was admitted to a palliative care ward on Sunday and is not expected to live to see the end of May.
The gift? Robyn, with her family's blessing, has decided to donate her brain to research.
In those 3 years we have watched Robyn from being an energetic full-time highschool teacher & mother of three to a wheelchair-bound person requiring 24/7 attention. A person who's organs are literally closing down around her and yet is still able to hold a pretty lively conversation, albeit very softly and slurry (spelling?). It will be a lung infection which will eventually take Robyn from our midst. The mere act of swallowing requires intense concentration on her part and even so, more and more food/drink is ending up going down into her lungs instead of her stomach. It is only a matter of time before infection takes hold.
With the donation of her brain researchers will be able to study her case history from the very first day to the end and hopefully gain more of an insight into MSA and how it might be treated in the future.
I don't usually make requests like this, but if you could spare a moment, please say a prayer for Robyn, her husband and son (who have been her primary caregivers), her two daughters, the extended family and all her friends (especially my mom, who is just not ready to let her best friend die). Don't pray for recovery, instead, pray for a safe journey to the place where she will be comfortable for the rest of eternity.
Thanks for your time
Nadia
28/Qld/Aust
If you'd like to know a little more about MSA, please click on the links below.
http://www.ndrf.org/MSA.htm
http://www.wemove.org/msa/
http://www.parkinsonsinstitute.org/move ... ystem.html
I just want to share this with you all.
My mum's best, best friend (Robyn) is 57yrs old. A little over 3 years ago shewas diagnosed with what we all thought was Parkinson's, but within months it was soon clear that there was something else going on: Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).
Robyn was admitted to a palliative care ward on Sunday and is not expected to live to see the end of May.
The gift? Robyn, with her family's blessing, has decided to donate her brain to research.
In those 3 years we have watched Robyn from being an energetic full-time highschool teacher & mother of three to a wheelchair-bound person requiring 24/7 attention. A person who's organs are literally closing down around her and yet is still able to hold a pretty lively conversation, albeit very softly and slurry (spelling?). It will be a lung infection which will eventually take Robyn from our midst. The mere act of swallowing requires intense concentration on her part and even so, more and more food/drink is ending up going down into her lungs instead of her stomach. It is only a matter of time before infection takes hold.
With the donation of her brain researchers will be able to study her case history from the very first day to the end and hopefully gain more of an insight into MSA and how it might be treated in the future.
I don't usually make requests like this, but if you could spare a moment, please say a prayer for Robyn, her husband and son (who have been her primary caregivers), her two daughters, the extended family and all her friends (especially my mom, who is just not ready to let her best friend die). Don't pray for recovery, instead, pray for a safe journey to the place where she will be comfortable for the rest of eternity.
Thanks for your time
Nadia
28/Qld/Aust
If you'd like to know a little more about MSA, please click on the links below.
http://www.ndrf.org/MSA.htm
http://www.wemove.org/msa/
http://www.parkinsonsinstitute.org/move ... ystem.html