Although trained as a clinical social worker and as a Certified Public Accountant, Kate Kelsall is currently writing and speaking and inspiring many with her twice weekly blog.

Kate has Parkinson’s disease (PD) and through her efforts, many others with the disease are finding support and activities and coming to understand how much they can do to alleviate the symptoms of this disease and work with themselves to continue and extend their creativity and achievements. She writes that emails such as the ones below keep her blogging:

Man from Quebec with Parkinson’s:
Your weblog about Parkinson’s is a great contribution. It contains all the information I would ever look for, and at the same time it is balanced and human. It is excellent, both in content and in spirit.

Man from Australia with Parkinson’s:
Thanks for the material and viewpoints you bring to light in your blog.

33-year-old wife and mother from Indiana with Parkinson’s:
I have so enjoyed reading your blog. It is very well written and informative. Thank you so much for your witty, accurate view about PD. I am just preparing for my first neurologist appointment on Friday. My doctor suspects a neurological disorder, as do I; and I would be surprised if it is not PD based because of my classic symptoms. So, your blog has been a welcome blessing to me–a source of information that I am grateful for as I await a DX.

You should think about writing a book!
Your words touch thousands!

Sheila
Kate, I’d like to know how you decided to keep a blog and whether you do have plans for a book.

Kate
With help from my writing teacher and coach, Shari Caudron, I had been working on a memoir and a collection of stories about people who’ve triumphed despite difficult medical challenges. Like all writing, it was difficult and the prospect of working years on a book that might not even be published was daunting. My goal as a writer was to reach out to other people with PD. Shari and I started talking about blogging as a way for me to reach my audience more directly.

 Well, long story short, my blog, Shake, Rattle and Roll, has been running for about a year and a half now, and now I’m getting almost 700 readers a week. Recently, I took time to learn the basics of FeedBurner, software that allows people to learn about my blog updates automatically through RSS. Since I’ve installed it, I’ve noticed a marked increase in visitors.

Doctors are prescribing my blog to patients who’ve been newly diagnosed with PD as well as persons with more advanced PD who are considering Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery. Plus, I have met many new friends and have become very active in the PD community.

Blogging allowed me to take control of my writing and achieve my goals much more quickly than going the traditional magazine or agent or book publisher route.

Sheila
What were the challenges for you as you started blogging and what they are now?

Kate
Shari put a gun to my head (just kidding) and coerced me into creating a blog. The challenges initially were the mechanics of setting it up. The challenges now are finding fresh topics related to PD to write about as well as continuing to attract new readers. When I feel that I have absolutely nothing more to say about PD, I pull out testimonials from my blog readers and their messages keep me writing.

Sheila
Which blogging software are you using and why?

Kate
I didn’t know anything about blogs when I created one. Shari suggested TypePad because it was user friendly and reasonable in cost. It was very easy to set up, and I’ve had all my questions answered through the TypePad Knowledge Base.

Sheila
What surprises have you had concerning your project?

Kate
I’ve been surprised by the popularity of my blog. There are very few of us with PD who have the skill, desire or health to write about PD on an ongoing basis.

I have received hits and emails from men and women all over the world – all ages and backgrounds. My blog readers include people with PD, people who think they have PD but haven’t been officially diagnosed, families and friends of those living with PD and nurses and doctors interested in PD.

I didn’t expect to receive hits from those in the process of being diagnosed with PD. When I was diagnosed in 1996, the Internet wasn’t a common way of retrieving medical information. Patients are now computer and medically savvy as they prepare for their appointments with their neurologists.

Sheila
Why do you think Shake, Rattle and Roll has been so successful? What advice would you give to new bloggers?

Kate
I believe my blog has been successful because:

I try to combine personal experiences and medical information that is informative and inspiring to everyone, with or without PD. My humor is self-deprecating, and readers can relate to my stories.

I have found other bloggers writing about PD and responded to their posts including my full name, blog name and blog address. We have linked to each other on our respective blogs.

I’ve included “email me” so that blog readers can easily email me. I try to respond within a business day. My style is warm and conversational, like a letter that I would write to a friend.

I try for catchy titles because for a blog post, that attracts more attention than an informative post with a dull title.

I keep my posts short. Most blog readers won’t even attempt to read a post that appears to be too long.

When meeting new people, I always have personal business cards to distribute that include my blog name and site address.

I have the blog posts archived by date and category. Once I included category, I immediately got more hits.

If I encounter people with good writing skills who are knowledgeable about PD either personally or professionally, I ask permission to reprint an article they have written or ask them to write an article for my blog, or I request email or telephone interviews we can do with each other.
If I run across a new book about PD that I particularly like, I contact the author and ask for a copy to review on my blog.

I’ve become an expert on PD and DBS through personal experience, reading every day, attending local and national conferences, and more recently speaking at local PD groups.

I’ve joined a couple of online PD discussion groups and forums and occasionally post to them.

I’ve informed neurologists and neurosurgeons about my blog, and now some are referring or “prescribing” my blog to their patients.

I DON’T recommend writing for someone else’s blog because it detracts from your own blog, and your post will never be printed in the way you want it (without errors). No one has the same attention to detail that you have about your own work.

I still haven’t taken the time to figure out “tags” but I’m continuing to have people find the blog.

Sheila
How is life different as a writer than as an accountant or a social worker?

Kate
This question requires a book to respond, not an article.

Sheila
Okay, we’ll stick to writing. Where else has your writing and participation in the Parkinson’s community led you?

Kate
I have to admit what even more gratifying than blogging is the volunteer position of DBS patient and family liaison that Valerie Graham and I’ve created at the University of Colorado Hospital. We meet with DBS patients and families before, during and after surgeries. We have made recommendations re: problems we have observed, and they have been surprisingly well received. They’ve now entrusted us with seven of their patients and families, with many more awaiting surgery.

Valerie and I also developed a DBS support group with about 75 members.

We have discovered a whole new calling well beyond the career paths, which we originally pursued prior to our illness. We both have experienced tremendous personal reward as a result of our efforts. Further proof that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud!!

My husband, Tom, a licensed clinical social worker and our friend, Carolyn Zeiger, a licensed clinical psychologist, started a Parkinson’s Partners’ support group for the spouses and family members of those with PD. Tom comes home from the meetings a happier person, knowing that our problems seem insignificant compared to some of others in the group.

2007 was a very good year. Now, the folks at the Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop in Denver have asked me to write a piece for their newsletter, The Beacon, about the benefits of blogging. I am also one of the 28 people featured in the upcoming book, Proud Hands of Parkinson’s, to be released at the PD Unity Walk in NYC on April 26. My husband, Tom, and I will be participating in the walk and book launch.

Sheila
So 2008 has started out, well, too! Tell us about your writing now and how effectively you’ve been able to help so many people become knowledgeable, inspired and willing to do what they can to remain as healthy as possible.

Kate
Thus far, 2008 has turned into another great year as I continue my volunteer activities at the University of Colorado Hospital as well as proceed with writing in my blog. I am coaxing my husband to write articles in my blog about his experiences of living with me and PD. I am becoming more active in the larger PD community by participating in the PD Unity Walk in NYC.

Sheila
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the ways you have found writing from personal experience valuable.

Kate
Writing from personal experience benefits my readers and me because:

We can offer support and information to each other without leaving home.

We feel less isolated knowing that others have had similar feelings and experiences.

By sharing with others through writing, we feel better about ourselves because we are making a contribution.

We develop a connection with others with PD that is different from the connection we experience with our doctors.

We provide hope and inspiration to each others.

Sheila
Thanks so much, Kate, for all the information you have shared. There is much being written today about the health benefits of writing from personal experience. You have certainly hit on many of them.

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It is my hope that reading about Kate’s experience, many of you will be inspired to use blogging as a way of organizing a body of work, keeping focus, and networking with others in any field that concerns you and for which you know disseminating information will make a difference. If you have a book project in mind, starting with a blog will help you write and find an audience for the writing. While you help others, you will be helping yourself stay committed to the project you have in mind.