Parkinson's Disease Quilt Comes to City Hall

When Diane Durkee decided to create a panel for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's Quilt project, she already knew the one word she wanted to convey: hope.

Her panel was among 15 others that make up block 17 that will be on display at City Hall through Friday to raise awareness about the disease and the need for more education and research as part of Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month.

Durkee, a Peabody resident, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001 and she experienced the usual emotions of anger, sadness, and fear before she decided to form a support group in the city to help herself and others deal with disease.

Her panel is made up of tulips that represent those different stages of what Parkinson's makes people feel as they deal with the disease. It is hope that allows them to continue to live their lives.

"Although there is uncertainty and sorrow, we stand together and look forward to tomorrow," was one line that Durkee read from one of her journals to an audience that included city officials, members of her support group who suffer from the disease and family members.

Durkee said her support group has been meeting twice each month for the last five years and as many as 3 to 20 people attend the meetings.

"I get more out of it than I give," she said.

Durkee said the "love and caring that other people give to me" give her the strength she needs.

Block 17 is one of more than 40 blocks that contain 16 quilted panels. More than 600 quilted panels like Durkee's comprise those 40-plus blocks.

Mayor Michael Bonfanti, whose father suffered from Parkinson's Disease, issued a proclamation making April Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month in the City of Peabody.

Bonfanti recalled that his father contracted the disease that affects the brain when he was 38 years old and he died at age 54 from pneumonia, which is a complication from the disease.

"It was such a dehibilitating disease for a man who was very vigorous," Bonfanti recalled.

Bonfanti said treatments were not that effective then and he watched his father suffer from it for many years. He said his father also suffered mental health issues and spent the last three years of his life at the former Danvers State Hospital.

"I am optimistic that the way we are going in science that we will find a cure for Parkinson's disease," he said.

Dr. Anne Young, chief of neurological services at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said there is reason to have hope that researchers will find that elusive cure.

She said a lot of progress has been made in terms of treatments and understanding about what causes the disease in the last five years. Advances in science and technology such as gene therapy and stem cell research make the idea of finding a cure much more possible than before, she said.

Sidney Durkee, Diane's husband, said the couple actually went to Washington, D.C. in February to lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support legislation that, if passed, would compile statistics to aid researchers about the various factors that contribute to Parkinson's disease such as herbicides and pesticides.

He said his wife received a citation from U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., commending her for spreading awareness about the disease. He said Brown's father suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Michael Achin of Attleboro met the Durkee's during their trip to Washington and he, too, wants to do what he can to educate the public about the need to do more research to find a cure and develop better treatments.

"I believe I was put on this earth for something and that was to defeat Parkinson's disease," said Achin, who was diagnosed in July 2009.