Patricia Richardson,
star of stage,
screen and
television, is best
known for
co-starring with Tim
Allen for eight
seasons on the ABC
TV show Home
Improvement as Jill
Taylor. Patricia was
nominated for a
Viewers for Quality
Television Award,
two Golden Globe
Awards for Best
Actress in a Comedy,
and four Emmy
Awards. She also
co-hosted the Emmy
Awards with Ellen
DeGeneres in 1994.
Previously, she had
starred on a series
for Norman Lear
called Double
Trouble. She also
starred in two shows
from one of the
creators of the Mary
Tyler Moore show,
Allan Burns:
Eisenhower Lutz
with Scott Bakula
and FM with Robert
Hays. Since her
father’s diagnosis,
Patricia, a mother
of three, has been a
strong caregiver
advocate for people
living with
progressive
supranuclear palsy
(PSP). She also
serves as the
national
spokesperson for
CurePSP.
Patricia recently
sat down with
Editor-In-Chief Gary
Barg to talk about
family caregiving
and support, and the
importance of
advocacy as a family
caregiver.
Gary
Barg: I
appreciate you
talking about your
dad. I think
when we talk about
our families, and
especially people in
the public eye like
yourself, it really
makes a difference
and brings people
out who may be going
through this. It is
really a great
service that you do.
Could you tell us
what PSP is?
Patricia
Richardson:
Progressive
supranuclear palsy
(PSP) is a
neurodegenerative
brain disease that
has no known cause,
treatment or cure.
It affects nerve
cells that control
walking, balance,
mobility, vision,
speech and
swallowing. We used
to say movement
disorder, but we
have decided now to
refer to it as a
disease.
That’s what it is
and when you say a
movement disorder,
it does not sound as
serious and deadly
as it in fact is.
It is a fatal
disease. It is
a fatal brain
disease.
We did not even
know my father had
it, probably for the
first five years.
Towards the last
probably full year
he had it, and maybe
even longer, I used
to say to people
that it was like he
was mummified inside
his body. He
had the kind of PSP
where the muscle
cramps basically
froze him.
He was unable to
move his face, eyes.
Of course, he could
not speak for more
than the last year,
probably the last
two years, and he
had a lot of
difficulty
swallowing.
We had never
known how cognitive
he had actually been
because he could not
communicate.
Then when we did the
autopsy, we found
out that he had been
a lot more cognizant
than we realized.
That was so
upsetting to us,
because there were
times when we talked
in front of him and
did not think he
necessarily really
even understood what
we were saying. Now
we realize he did,
and that he
understood a lot
more about what was
going on around him
than we realized at
the time.
GB:
That is a good
lesson for everybody
with a loved one
dealing with
cognitive disorders
or movement
disorders. We should
try to be aware of
what the person may
or may not be
processing.
What kinds of
treatments are being
developed for PSP?
What was being done
for your dad?
