Hey #MedTwitter fam, my mom was diagnosed with #ParkinsonsDisease in 2001 and today she had surgery to get the battery for her neuro stimulator changed. It's been a wild ride, and I figured I'd do a little thread on the caretakers/family members perspective on living with PD 1/

It started as a pill rolling tremor in one hand. Before we knew it, her tremors were so bad she was unable to eat with utensils because food would fly. It was really hard to watch her decline and I stepped up and took care of things around the house from an early age 2/

There were times where my mom's tremors were so bad that she'd get so frustrated during meals that after everyone cleaned up and finished she'd sit there alone and eat with her hands. My sweet father saw this and wanted to do something special for her. 3/

She was cracking jokes with the OR staff and said she had a really great experience. They had her hold a bottle of apple juice during the procedure while they were working to if they were making the right connections. I've seen some videos of DBS patients playing guitar 7/

These people right here are my heroes, and are a big reason why I'm in medicine today. /8

A lot of times it would turn into a food fight lol. This was our very first "Mumsy Solidarity Night" in 2009. 4/

In the fall of 2009 my mom "got her life back." She was a candidate for Deep Brain Stimulation surgery and by the grace of God was cleared for the procedure. I was really interested in medicine by this time and begged to be allowed in the OR to see it. 5/

Unfortunately they didn't let me and I can totally see why, but some of the sweet nurses offered to take pics and so I have these to treasure. She was AWAKE for part of the procedure and that absolutely blows my mind still to this day (Shared with permission) 6/

And thus "Mumsy solidarity night" was born. For one meal each year, the whole family would have dinner where we would eat EVERYTHING only our hands in support of my momma. I think it was the greatest and sweetest act of love I've ever seen. 4/