“In sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live.” These words took on deeper meaning for our family recently after I underwent genetic testing for Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease took our dad’s life in May 2020, and my brother, Gavin, was…
A Genetic Lottery - a Column by Becky Field
“It’s your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.” — Rumi, scholar and poet Huntington’s disease has so far affected four generations of our family. We lost our dad to Huntington’s in May 2020 and…
“Of all base passions, fear is most accursed.” — Joan La Pucelle (Joan of Arc), in Shakespeare’s “King Henry VI, Part I” Huntington’s disease has taken the lives of my dad, grandfather, and great-grandmother. My brother, Gavin, was diagnosed with it in January 2022, at the age…
“All body systems would be immobilized without the nervous system. It controls and regulates every bodily activity down to the workings of the tiniest cell.” — World Book Encyclopedia of Science Because Huntington’s disease (HD) damages neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain, it can cause a variety of…
“Heat, like gravity, penetrates every substance of the universe, its rays occupy all parts of space.” — Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, a mathematician who studied heat conduction Our dad died in May 2020 from Huntington’s disease, and my brother, Gavin, was diagnosed with it…
Our dad, David Roy Field, would’ve celebrated his 72nd birthday this February. I often wonder what he would’ve thought of our current family life if he were still with us today. We lost Dad to Huntington’s disease in May 2020. My brother, Gavin, was recently diagnosed…
“Yesterday/ All my troubles seemed so far away/ Now it looks as though they’re here to stay/ Oh, I believe in yesterday/ Suddenly/ I’m not half the man I used to be/ There’s a shadow hanging over me.” My dad and I loved listening to the Beatles’ “…
“Find another oak to weather the storm with you.” — author Deepak Chopra I’ve always likened caring for someone with Huntington’s disease (HD) to navigating a storm, with waves of difficult times crashing over you. Eventually, the storm clears and the waters grow calm again, but you know…
“See you in heaven one day” is a line from one of my dad’s all-time favorite songs, which I have recently been revisiting. By 2020, my dad had been in nursing homes for almost six years, suffering from late-stage Huntington’s disease. He’d been having…
As I descended a country lane through the valley this morning on my way to work, storm clouds that had gathered began to clear, revealing a blue sky. Daffodil sprouts appeared in the hedgerows. The sun shone across the fields, highlighting the remaining autumnal colors, and then streamed through the…
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