Amanda Buch: My Father's Brain

 Amanda Buch, a neuroscientist and daughter of a man with Parkinson's, spoke about her father's life and diagnosis at Union Hall for Brain Awareness Week. She talks about her dad and how when she was young, he was a software architect on Wall Street as well as a musician and composer. When he was 47, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Amanda's first thoughts after this diagnosis consisted of how her life and relationship with her father change. She said that she saw his occupations become more and more difficulty to complete. He had physical, emotional, and mental changes that included a slumped posture, shuffled feet when walking, and left side tremors before he played his guitar. Something interesting that she mentioned was that large crowds and lots of noise would make his symptoms worse. Eventually, her father lost his job and the family moved, making it harder to communicate with her dad as could not see each other all the time and he could not keep his attention or speak clearly over the phone (she could not leave because she had gotten involved with projects studying Parkinson's). Another thought that Amanda had was why had her father's Parkinson's progressed so quickly. By 53, her father could barely walk and exhibited dyskinesia and dystonia. After a little convincing, Amanda convinced her dad to get deep brain stimulation. A few days later, he had a large bulge on his face that ended up being irritation from the staples, but 3 months later, he was able to walk, play tennis, and play guitar; however, this did not cure his cognitive impairments. One of the most interesting things that she said was something her father says, "Never surrender to misfortune." Despite all of the challenges he faces, Amanda's father keeps moving forward and keeps a positive outlook on his circumstances.

I chose to listen to this podcast because I find it interesting to hear the families outlooks on different diagnoses as they are often strongly impacted by them as well. Amanda's perspective was especially interesting because her dad's diagnosis ended up impacting her field of study as well. 

The information in this podcast was beneficial to me because it helped to tie information learned in class to a real world situations. Many of the symptoms Amanda's father had are ones that we discussed in lecture. It adds another layer to understanding the disease when I am able to relate the information to a real life situation and see now only how it impacts one specific individual but those surrounding them as well.

Lillie, B. (Host). (2016, December 2). Amanda Buch: My Father’s Brain [Audio Podcast Episode]. In The Story Collider. https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2016/12/2/amanda-buch-my-fathers-brain