Parkinson’s disease is a progressive movement disorder of the nervous system that weakens nerve cells and leads to symptoms, including problems with movement, tremor, stiffness and impaired balance.
Carly Simon has revealed she has Parkinson’s disease.
The Grammy-winning singer, 83, shared the news Monday when providing an update on her health and explaining her absence from the public eye.
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“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” she said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly. Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable. Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.”
Simon said her trouble began with arthritis in her knees and one of her hips that prompted joint replacement surgeries, but didn’t solve her mobility problems.
“Eventually, there were periods when I could not walk without considerable help,” she said. “My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member began taking medication to help with her movement and other symptoms she was experiencing. She also said that while Parkinson’s is so closely aligned with balance, there has been “anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and apathy.”
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“That has been one of the hardest things to explain,” she said. “It is not simply sadness or laziness. It is as though the part of the brain that sends out invitations to participate in life has temporarily misplaced the guest list.”
Simon then said she was treated for basal cell carcinoma on her face that was removed, “but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public.”
She said her problems moving, along with the Parkinson’s, her surgery and the emotional impact of what she was going through, she had decided to retreat from the spotlight.
“But I have not stopped living, and I have not stopped working,” she added, noting she has been recording a new album called “Comes in Waves” that has provided her some relief.
“Working on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape,” she said. “It gave me somewhere to go without having to leave the room. It reminded me that illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.
“I do not consider Parkinson’s a gift or a blessing. It is neither. It is difficult, frustrating, and sometimes frightening. I am still learning how to live with it and how to accept it without feeling that I have surrendered something essential.”
Simon thanked all of those people who have helped through her journey, while remaining aware that her life has changed.
“These days I move more slowly, I lean on others more than I once did, and I have learned to accept that every day will look a little different. But I am still very much here,” she said.
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