Kyle Petty's wife Pattie diagnosed with Parkinson's

  Pattie Petty and Kyle Petty: expanding Victory Junction, and now dealing with this.... (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

    Parkinson's is an illness marked by movement issues, including slowness and difficult in walking. Among the most well-known celebrities dealing with Parkinson's are actor Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali.
   Pattie Petty says she has worried she might have Parkinson's since she began having 'resting tremors and aching muscles' in 2010. He father had Parkison's for some 15 years.
   "I am relieved my family and I are confident in my diagnosis and can focus on the work we have ahead of us to live with Parkinson's," Petty said.
   "Kyle and I have already been blessed by the outpouring support, to bring Victory Junction Midwest to Kansas City, and we feel doubly blessed that we have a strong and dedicated group of professionals at University of Kansas Hospital providing us with the latest medical technology and assisting us with this disease.
    "This official diagnosis does not change our efforts in Kansas City.  My hands may not be still, and I might move a bit slower right now, but we are moving full-steam ahead to change the lives of chronically ill children in the Midwest."
    Though official diagnosis has only come in the last few days, she has been undergoing treatment for several months.
    "After watching my father live with Parkinson's, it was not a surprise when I was told that I may be suffering from this disease as well," she said.
    "I followed my doctor's advice and began a series of medications, so that I could continue my plan of working a couple of weeks a month in Kansas City laying the ground work to open Victory Junction Midwest."
    The Kansas City expansion camp will be similar to the Petty's Victory Junction camp in Randleman, N.C.
    One of the doctors treating Petty says there are effective medicines to treat Parkinson's disease, but they can have a powerful physiological effect on your body if you don't need them. So they have to be carefully regulated."
    Kyle Petty says "staying active is an important part of managing Parkinson's, and that will not be hard for my wife. 
    "Pattie will not let Parkinson's regulate her life."