Family's experience with Parkinson's raises awareness, sparks hope
MIAMI - Last month, I publicly shared for the first time that I have Parkinson's disease, hoping to bring attention to the condition. Little did I know it would inspire someone watching to take action in their own lives.
Sweet Sweet-Stone and her family were watching.
She recalls how it all began. "My mother was in the den, and she heard the story and screamed for me to come and watch it. Watching the tremors and the shakes, she said, 'Isn't that what your dad has?'"
Sweet's father, Willie, has dementia, but the family recently noticed he had developed tremors. The revelation prompted them to consider another possibility: Parkinson's disease.
"To me, it made me more aware that maybe there was something else going on with him," said Queen Smith, Sweet's mother and Willie's ex-wife, who helps care for him. "Then I started listening to what you were saying when you did your show about it."
Sweet decided to take her father to a neurologist for evaluation.
"We're running tests, and we'll be finding out within the next couple of weeks if that's really what it is or if it's part of dementia," Sweet said. "But either way, at least it's an answer as to why he does shake."
CBS News Miami spoke with Dr. Ihtsham ul Haq, a neurologist and Parkinson's expert at UM's Miller School of Medicine, about the importance of investigating symptoms like these.
"You can have that issue from many different things and those things have different treatments," Dr. Haq explained. "Anytime there's a mix of symptoms, it's critical to get it evaluated."
He emphasized that early diagnosis can make a significant difference. "You can make the most difference the less advanced a condition is. Once changes have happened, it's much harder to reverse them than it is to try to prevent them," he said.
Sweet's proactive steps could improve her father's quality of life, and knowing that my story played a small part in that fills me with gratitude. Sweet also left a lasting impression on me during a vulnerable moment.
While covering another story, I struggled to input a phone number into my phone as my left hand began to tremble. Sweet noticed and stepped in with reassurance.
"You were shaking, your tremors had started, and you could tell by the expression on your face that you were nervous about it," Sweet recalled. "I looked at you and said, 'You're okay, you're fine.'"
That simple act of kindness meant the world to me. Sweet's compassion turned a brief interaction into a profound connection, reminding me of the power of empathy and the importance of raising awareness about Parkinson's.
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