Bringing People with Parkinson’s Together: A Special Dinner Event by Care Organization Lentis

Afraid to put a spoon to your mouth and make a mess? For people with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, eating out is no longer always a matter of course. Shame sometimes plays a role here. Herman Overberg of care organization Lentis came up with the idea of ​​organizing a dinner, especially for people with Parkinson’s.

Neighborhood restaurant Zuidend on the Dennenoord site in Zuidlaren is full. Thirty guests join us for the special dinner. On the menu: stew. “That’s easy to eat,” Overberg explains.

“It’s nice to talk to fellow sufferers about what you’re going through,” says Albertine Don. She has known that she has Parkinson’s since 2017. “It started with fatigue. At first I thought it was burnout, but it turned out to be Parkinson’s.” Those fatigue complaints are very recognizable for former weatherman Klaas Karssen. “Fifteen years I presented the weather on Radio Drenthe. And now I’m sitting here at the Parkinson dinner.”

It was also a quest for Karssen to find out what was going on. “I think the fatigue is the worst. It turns out that I will never get into my deep sleep again. Whether I sleep five or ten hours, it doesn’t matter. I never wake up rested.”

Overberg came up with the idea for this dinner after hearing about Parkinson’s on the radio. “Someone said that he no longer dared to eat out. Out of shame to mess. ‘So unfortunate,’ I thought.” With the dinner, Overberg wants to lower the threshold and bring fellow sufferers into contact with each other. He has plans to expand the concept. “I think others could also benefit from this, for example people with MS.”

Karssen exchanges experiences with his neighbor at the table. “Some people don’t show that they have Parkinson’s. Fortunately, I don’t either. It is possible that you start to shake violently. So far it’s going well. Although I do notice that I have to take wider turns with the bike .”

While the stew appears on the table, Karssen has one more thing to say. “Life has ups and downs. The good things you have to look for, the bad will come naturally. Enjoy the day. Carpe Diem.”