When Leza first noticed her body changing, she didn’t know what was happening.

It started with a loss of power in her thumb. Then her right arm became weaker. Everyday things she had always taken for granted became difficult. Cutting her own steak. Getting out of a chair. Putting on her shoes without help from her husband, Gary.

“It was pretty frightening.”

After two years of symptoms, Leza was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

But the diagnosis didn’t bring the reassurance or answers she desperately needed.

“My neurologist just said, take this medication and we’ll see you in six months. My brain checked out. I didn’t understand what she was saying.”

No one should have to face a Parkinson’s diagnosis feeling alone

Just one week later, Leza attended a Parkinson’s NSW Newly Diagnosed Seminar.

It gave her something she desperately needed: a safe and welcoming place to understand what her diagnosis meant, ask questions and hear from people who understood what she was going through.

“When I got to the seminar, I was absolutely gobsmacked, undermedicated, and still not able to manage myself. But they normalised it. They were so present and heartfelt in their love and care for us, and I felt such relief being there.”

In one day, Leza heard from a Parkinson’s Specialist Nurse, speech pathologist, exercise physiologist and counsellor, as well as people who had been living with Parkinson’s for many years.

She could ask the questions she hadn’t been able to ask at her appointment and talk openly about the fears that had begun to take over her life.

“I was so frightened of when to eat and take my tablets that I stopped eating. I became jittery and nervous and just bound with anxiety. It was wonderful to meet the nurses from Parkinson’s NSW and have a frank talk about it all.”

For Leza, the Newly Diagnosed Seminar was more than a day of information. It changed how she approached living with Parkinson’s.

Hearing from others living with the condition helped her realise that everyone’s experience is different, and that she could find her own way forward.

“Instead of comparing myself to others, I learned to ask what this looks like for me, and how I can help myself to live better.”

That sense of understanding and connection can make an enormous difference when someone is newly diagnosed.

Help people like Leza