THE BIG YIN said in an interview that while he has beat cancer, Parkinson's is 'forever' and Pamela is constantly on his case
Updated
The 73-year-old was diagnosed with both conditions in 2013.
In an interview, former shipyard worker Billy said he thinks about his condition every day and revealed his wife Pamela Stephenson, 66, has taken on a maternal role as he lives with the degenerative disease.
He said she nags him about his medication, telling him how to collect it and which day he needs to pick it up.
He added: “She’s very supportive in so much as she’s become my mother.”
Billy has since been given the all clear from cancer but a Parkinson’s diagnosis offers no hope of reprieve.
He said: “I shove the cancer behind me but the Parkinson’s - I think about it every morning. It’s forever, isn’t it?”
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Billy Connolly and his wife Pamela Stevenson
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The comedian described Parkinson’s - a progressive degeneration of the nervous system - as a ‘cruel’ condition and admitted: “You get very emotional.”
“There were things I liked to do, like smoking cigars. I can’t do that any more because it makes me drunk.
“I can’t play the banjo any more because of my left hand. I don’t move as much as I used to because I don’t feel secure in my balance. My way of speaking has changed a bit too.”
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Billy recounts how an Australian doctor specialising in Parkinson’s expressed concern about the dad-of-five’s health after seeing him walk through a hotel lobby, leading him to visit a specialist.
He said: “This guy said, ‘Mr Connolly, I’ve been looking at the way you walk and it seems to me you have the gait of someone with early onset Parkinson’s see a doctor’.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘How rude! How dare you!’”
The comedian is set to be honoured with a Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards to celebrate his 50 years in entertainment.
http://health.einnews.com/article/306506726/WIvzov_-yQuCHQS4
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