Carly Simon has been out of the spotlight for some time – in fact, she hasn’t released a studio album for 17 years. But yesterday, she revealed one of the reasons for that long silence – she’s been battling Parkinson’s Disease.
The singer songwriter – who turned 83 last month – has opened up about her health issues and what they have meant for her at a practical level in a lengthy Instagram post: “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.
“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.”
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She continued: “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.”
In her case, the disease started in her knees and hip joints. Eventually, she had to have three of those replaced. “I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm,” she wrote. “Overstuffed furniture became my enemy. Once seated, I could feel as though I had been swallowed by the chair and might remain there permanently, like a guest who had badly overstayed her welcome.”
It wasn’t until after all that that Parkinson’s was eventually diagnosed. There is no known cure for the condition – which affects the brain, nervous system and muscle control – but with the right drugs it can be effectively managed.
In Simon’s case, Parkinson’s has also come with anxiety, depression and apathy. “The apathy is particularly strange. You can find yourself lying there like a starfish drying in the sun, arms pointing in all directions, while nothing inside is telling you to get up, read, watch, write, sing, call someone, or do much of anything at all.
“That has been one of the hardest things to explain. 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.”
Despite all this, the singer songwriter – best known for a string of hits in the 1970s and ’80s – has recorded a new album. Comes In Waves is released next month and is her first new music since 2009. “I am still writing, singing, imagining, laughing, worrying, remembering, and occasionally getting trapped in an overstuffed chair,” she added.
“I am deeply grateful to my children, my family, my friends, my caregivers, and the medical professionals who have helped me through this. Their love and patience have carried me through days when my own reserves were not enough.”
