`PARKINSON'S: A PERSONAL STORY OF ACCEPTANCE

What started with a slight hand tremor progressed into a disease without a known cure for Sandi Gordon.

Gordon, 37, of Kirkwood was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease shortly before giving birth to her fourth child in 1986.

She spoke to about 20 members of the Parkinson's Disease Community Support Group Monday night. The group meets at St. Francis Medical Center on the last Monday of the month.

Parkinson's disease is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and affects movement of the muscles.

There is no known cause or cure for the disease. It was named after the English physician James Parkinson, who first described its symptoms in 1817.

The most common symptoms include trembling hands and a loss of balance. Adults age 50 to 70 are most often affected by the disease.

Because Gordon was young when she first showed symptoms, she was often incorrectly diagnosed by doctors.

"I didn't go to too many doctors because I didn't want to hear bad news," Gordon said, adding that the diagnosis helped her concentrate her efforts. Prior to the diagnosis she worried that her tremblings were caused by a brain tumor.

"I went through a lot more denial because I was so young," she said. "I had to accept that my body was aging rapidly and my mind was not."

As Gordon's disease progressed, she began to do less and less around the house. It was a struggle because she lost about 60 percent of her normal abilities, said her husband, Paul.

But that really hasn't stopped her from doing things. Gordon tries to find some thing each day that gives her a purpose.

Writing has been one of her biggest projects since being diagnosed. Five years ago she published a book, "Parkinson's: A Personal Story of Acceptance."

"I found that there wasn't enough information out there for younger people, especially people with the disease," Gordon said, adding that the lack of information prompted her to write the book. The entire process took only eight weeks.

The book is a collection of stories about her family and their acceptance of the disease.

"Unless you live with Parkinson's disease, you don't have a clear understanding of it and what it does to your life and how it affects your life," Paul Gordon said. "We suffer in different ways from the people with Parkinson's disease but we suffer from Parkinson's disease."

To help their children understand about the disease, Paul and Sandi talk and laugh about it often.

"It's helps to make people understand and open up to it more when they are able to laugh about it," Sandi Gordon said.

One of her favorite stories about living with Parkinson's involves her four children.

When her daughter Stephanie was 6, she discovered the truth about the Easter Bunny. Her brother Andy wanted to find out just what she knew -- so he asked her to describe the Easter Bunny.

"She knew that she couldn't say much with her younger sister in the room so she said, `I know its got Parkinson's disease," Gordon said.

To help other young patients cope with Parkinson's disease, the Gordons began a support group in the St. Louis area.

"Adjusting to the disease hasn't come easy," she said, "but it's helped to have a support group."