Heyfield grandmother Linda Francis has been living with Parkinson’s disease for six years, but she is still not taking the diagnosis lying down. With a positive attitude and regular assistance from Mercy Health home care, she is living a full life surrounded by family and friends and finding deep solace in poetry writing.
Years before her diagnosis, Linda noticed vague but troubling symptoms, including a slowly increasing rigidity of movement and a slight tremor in her left hand, which doctors mistook as a side effect of her asthma medication. Everyday tasks, like having a shower, were taking longer than usual and she also began to suffer from depression that seemed to come from nowhere. “I just couldn’t work out why I was depressed,” Linda says.
Finally, in late 2015, after she and her husband Ron moved to Heyfield to be near their family, Linda was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system, which affects movement. Not long after that, Ron developed a spinal condition, and ended up having a spinal fusion. “Life isn’t meant to be easy. It isn’t perfect; it’s messy,” she says.
Every day, the disease affects Linda differently. Some days, she feels like she is “wading through water, other days I will breeze through.” Despite the daily challenges, her life is still a full dance card and she does as much as she can.
Linda and Ron Francis
“I have a fairly active social life. I’m the president of the local senior citizens club. I play cards twice a week when we’re allowed to. We play 500 on a Monday afternoon, and Euchre on a Friday afternoon. I still do my washing each day. I use a walking cane at all times but I still do all my own shopping, either on the internet or by using the local stores. So, I try and get out each day and walk slowly,” Linda says.
She also enjoys seeing her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, when she can.
Linda has been receiving home care from Mercy Health for a couple of years now and they have helped lift the practical burdens caused by the disease. Her home care worker Rosemary comes once a week to vacuum and wash the floors, clean the bathroom and help with changing the bed sheets.
“I couldn’t be happier with the service that I’m getting,” says Linda. “Everyone I have dealt with there has been very caring and I have a treasure of a home care worker as well. She’s a wonderful lady.”
Writing poetry also gives Linda emotional relief from her disease. “It gives me an outlet and I also write it to try and raise awareness about the disease because a lot of people think that Parkinson’s is just when someone is shaking all the time, but that’s not always the case,” Linda says.
“I wrote the poem, The Veil of Tears at 4am in the morning and it took me 15 minutes. Sometimes it just happens that way.”
An excerpt from The veil of tears
By Linda Francis
Tears run down my face as I recall how five years ago I had it all, a healthy body or so I thought.
My mind full of pleasure thinking of travel and talks, talking with family and friends without searching for words.
Then as the tears are running down my face, I realise that I am still in a good place.
This veil of tears won’t beat me, I will face my fears.
In the middle of the night when the dark surrounds me, I realise how important it is stay grounded.
I know that with the help of wonderful family and friends, I will go on and fight like crazy to the very end.
I will not give in and not succumb, even when my limbs feel numb, and I feel the tremors begin.
No matter what, I will not give in.
Last reviewed October 29, 2021.