Cambridgeshire woman speaks of '24 hour a day role' helping husband battle Parkinson's disease
Caroline Rivett's husband Tim was diagnosed 15 years ago
A Cambridgeshire woman whose husband's been living with Parkinson's disease for 15 years believes it has been a life changer.
Charity Parkinson's UK estimates 785 people in the county are currently living with this, the second lowest in the East of England.
But combined with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, that figure jumps to 5,697 which is the highest in the eastern region.
"There's still days he doesn't understand he's got Parkinson's"
Caroline Rivett from St Ives looks after her husband Tim, a former company managing director and stand-up comedian, since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's after spotting a tremor in his arm.
"I'm now a full-time carer and it is essentially like having a fourth child, he's unable to do anything around the house now so everything like this, I have to deal with," she said.
"It probably took him 13, 14 years to admit that he has Parkinson's and there's still days that he doesn't understand he's got Parkinson's.
"Our three children, although grown up, they've lost the father that I think they were expecting to have."
Almost 20,000 people living with Parkinson's in East
Parkinson's disease is a neurological condition where parts of the brain become damaged over several years.
In the East, more than 19,000 people are living with the disease according to Parkinson's UK:
- Suffolk/Norfolk - 4692
- Essex - 4375
- Beds/Herts/Cambs - 5657
- Buckinghamshire - 1,733
- Rutland - 113
- Northamptonshire - 1,573
- Oxfordshire - 1,518
Caroline said Tim, who was a keen cricketer and hockey player, was diagnosed "two to three months" after the original tremor was found.
"It is a 24 hour a day role; I can't go out, pop to the shops and have a coffee with a friend and it's not the life I thought I would have at my age or that Tim would have at his age.
"I look for the little things in life that are nice, so if he's having a good day, we'll go out for a walk and I treasure those days whereas before, I thought 'oh God, let's do this and that'.
"Nobody knows what the future will hold; there's no point looking forward because you don't know what's coming, so we take every day as it comes."
You can find more advice and support on dealing with Parkinson's Disease such as through the NHS website or the Parkinson's Cambs helpline.