Walking version of beautiful game helped me tackle life-changing disease diagnosis
| Published date | 26 April 2023 |
| Publication title | Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser |
Yet, three years since she was diagnosed at age 49 with the condition that affects the brain and causes shaking, slow movements and stiffness that can worsen over time, Karen has found release from her ailments through an unlikely pastime.
The woman who, until diagnosis, had no interest in partaking in physical exercise of any kind, is now a dedicated follower of walking football.
Through the matches she looks forward to every week, she has seen a marked improvement in her physical and mental health.
And she's also formed a strong bond with other people who are living with Parkinson's - like-minded people who have helped her through the toughest of times.
Karen's journey with the condition began back in 2017, when one of her colleagues at a large supermarket chain noticed that she was not swinging her left arm when she walked.
After taking another in a succession of stumbles in the supermarket yard, a manager warned her: "It's about time you started being more careful around here."
When she began to detect a tremor in her right side the following year, Karen made an appointment to see her GP.
With the results of blood and thyroid tests, and testing for MS, all coming back clear, Karen - whose mum had experienced the common movement disorder known as 'benign tremor' - "just carried on with life." In March 2019, when Karen was visiting her seriously ill dad in hospital, a few of the nurses commented on her shakes.
Sadly, her father passed away three months later, by which time the tremors were affecting her feet, legs and arms.
Karen, of Spittal, Rutherglen, was referred to neurology at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
On calling her name from the other end of the corridor, the consultant closely watched as Karen walked towards him.
"The minute I came in and sat down, he said: 'Mrs McBride, I'm 99 per cent sure you have Parkinson's disease,'" remembers Karen.
"I'd gone there on my own. My husband was at work. I couldn't believe it. I did not register anything else he said after that."
In January 2020, Karen had an MRI scan. And, on March 16 that year - a week before the country went into lockdown - the Parkinson's diagnosis...
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