Join the fight to beat Parkinson’s Disease!

In 2016 I came back home on Thanksgiving day from Tucson, Arizona (where I was attending my first semester of college). This was the day where my family's lives changed. It started with a tapping of my mom's watch hitting up against the passenger car door. From that day forward it has been a journey to diagnose and help treat my mother. There were months of taking her to the emergency room with little to no answers of what was going on regarding my mom's health. Finally, almost a year later of trying to find answers she was diangosed with Parkinsons or PD. Thankfully with the help of UCI Neugologists and Doctors my mom was able to be treated...to a certain extent. With Parkinsons treatment comes a lot of medication. Yet, in June of 2020 my mom was cleared to undergo DBS surgery aka Deep Brain Simulation surgery. This surgery allows my mom to not take as much medication as she was prior the surgery. This 6 hour brain surgery was in the midst of the pandemic and no one was allowed in the hospitatl to be by her side. Now almosst 4 years later we are here taking every "good" day as a blessing. I love that I am able to still travel, talk, and essentially do "normal" daily activities with my mom - even though it has slowed her down. 

This is my fifth year of creating a team to honor my mom. The community I have created have united to raise awareness and funds for the Parkinson’s Foundation Moving Day, A Walk for Parkinson’s. Whether you register to join our team or donate, you’re helping us make life better for the one million people with Parkinson’s and the nearly 90,000 more that will be diagnosed this year. Your support is crucial in helping the Parkinson’s Foundation fulfill its commitment to finding a cure and enhancing the quality of life for those living with Parkinson’s today.

Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the Western Regional Volunteer Summit in San Diego to learn more about PD and what I can do to help the Parkinsons community. 

Thank you for supporting our team and the vital work of the Parkinson’s Foundation!

To donate or visit a team members personal page please select from the ‘Team Roster’ list at the bottom of the page. If you want to make a team donation, email MovingDay@parkinson.org or call 1-800-4PD-INFO (473-4636).

To join Team Melody team, click the blue “Join Team Melody” button.

Love y'all,

Chloé