Joining Suzanne this hour is Lianna Marie, founder of AllAboutParkinsons.com, who has written a new book called "The Parkinson's Path."

Asked what it was like when she first heard her mom had been diagnosed, Lianna says, "I was in my mid teens at the time, and I had not noticed anything "wrong" with my mom, so when she told us she had Parkinson's disease, it was an absolute, complete shock. As a daughter, I was just not sure what that meant. It was I guess good timing, if you want to say that, that Michael J. Fox had also been diagnosed at that time, so there could have been a little bit of comfort in knowing that there's somebody recognizable who has this, and he looks all right – again, this is a 16-year-old. And honestly, we went pretty quickly from shocked — at least I went from shocked — to 'we don't have time for Parkinson's.' I remember my mom saying that. Diseases don't choose the time that they show up. My mom was in the middle of a really messy divorce with my dad. 'I have this stuff over here, so Parkinson's, you're gonna have to move over there.' That eventually turned into me helping her get some practical information about the disease."

"It was my, if you will, 'job.' Quickly I took on the role of cheerleader: 'All right, Mom, we're in this together, we're gonna do this Parkinson's thing.' I was an athlete, and so I looked at it from a coaching perspective, and in my early 20s and then in mid 20s, that's sort of how I looked at it. 'Okay, let's get her hydrated,' – which actually is really important in Parkinson's – but it was to take care of these practical aspects of her disease that I can help her control. Cheerleading is really important. Being the optimist, helping them look at the bigger picture."

"We did the best with what we had at the time, with the information that we had at the time. You've gotta trust that you did the best you could. I wish I had learned more about – or someone had taught us about – the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's, because mostly we thought it was the tremor, the speech, various things that everybody knows now are related to Parkinson's. But no one told us that anxiety, depression, and apathy were parts of this disease."

Lianna has also written "The Complete Guide for People With Parkinson’s Disease and Their Loved Ones," "Everything You Need to Know About Parkinson’s Disease," and "Everything You Need to Know About Caregiving for Parkinson’s Disease." Her books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold. Hear more of Lianna's podcasts at Answers for Elders, and visit her website or AllAboutParkinsons.com to learn more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.