The only day we have
A film by
Vanessa reiser
THE ONLY DAY WE HAVE takes us on a journey led by Allan Cole, a person with Parkinson’s disease, who was diagnosed at age 48. This is considered young-onset Parkinson’s disease (YOPD), which is the topic of our film. Allan vulnerably shares his story of diagnosis and living intentionally with his disease, while connecting and supporting others in the young-onset community. Through the power of storytelling, the viewer, and especially those newly diagnosed with YOPD and their loved ones, get an inside look into the raw experiences of learning that one has a progressive neurodegenerative disease. There are highs and lows of this experience for everyone, but we head in a direction of optimism and hope.
OUR STORY
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(Producer)
ALLAN COLE serves as Dean of the Steve Hicks School at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Bert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor in Social Work and Courtesy Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at theDel Medical School.
Leading the Steve Hicks School in its mission to "provide national leadership to promote social and economic justice, alleviate critical social problems, and enhance human well-being," Dean Cole's work focuses on helping faculty, staff, and students thrive in research, teaching, learning, and service. As a scholar, Dean Cole is a nationally recognized authority on chronic illness, health humanities, bereavement, and the study of spirituality and religion in social work. The author or editor of 15 books, his latest works include: Jumping to the Skies : Additional Lessons from Parkinson's Disease (Cascade, 2023); Riding the Wave: Poems (Resource Publications, 2023); In the Care of Plenty: Poems (Resource Publications, 2021); Discerning the Way: Lessons from Parkinson's Disease(Cascade, 2021), and Counseling Persons with Parkinson's Disease (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Much of Dean Cole's scholarship and advocacy centers around caring for people living with Parkinson's disease. He moderates PD Wise, a hub he created for sharing personal stories, experiences, and wisdom gained from living with Parkinson's, which encourages personal connections and opportunities for learning.
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(Director & Producer)
VANESSA REISER is a filmmaker based in Austin. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1999, where she studied documentary films with the legendary filmmaker George Stoney, and was immediately hooked. Reiser spent the first part of her career as an editor, which has greatly informed her eye as a director and shooter of documentaries to create visually compelling stories. She is committed to making films that show the beauty in the vulnerability of the human experience, and has covered such
topics as children born with rare diseases, the emotional healing process of incarcerated women, birthworkers, the people behind a hand-stitched soccer ball company in Colombia, and a spiritualTexas artist who finds the majesty of beauty in everything. Vanessa has worked for a wide variety of clients over the past 23 y e a r s , including L'Oreal, Lumos Pharma, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Tamron USA, Guru Bikes, ABC Insurance Trust, Hayworth Athletic, Skin is Skin, Headwaters School and Heart Gallery NYC. This is her second film about Parkinson's disease; the first was Empowered by Parkinson's, a film commissioned by Connecticut Public Television in 2019.
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease (after Alzheimer’s Disease) in the world. As life expectancy has increased worldwide, it is expected that the frequency and associated burdens of chronic diseases such as PD will continue to grow. PD is largely diagnosed in people over the age of 60. When someone who is under 50 years old receives a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, it is referred to as Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD). Between 2013 and 2017, the prevalence rate of YOPD grew more than 50%. For someone to receive this diagnosis at the prime of their life as a working professional, and often as a parent, is not only shocking and scary, it’s life-altering.
The goal for “The Only Day We Have” is to educate and promote awareness around YOPD, as well as to be a resource for the newly diagnosed. What does this diagnostic journey look and feel like, and how does one proceed on their life path after this diagnosis? There are so many factors to think about when one has been diagnosed with a degenerative disease. How do I share this news with my family? My employer? My friends? How will it affect my career? How will this affect my kids? What will my daily life look like? Can I afford to have this disease? What’s the best course of medical treatment, and whom do I trust to advise me on this? In essence, what is this new life I have in front of me?
Credits
Director
Vanessa Reiser
Camera
Jenelle Lewis
Vanessa Reiser
Producers
Vanessa Reiser
Allan Cole
Original Music
David Hamburger
Editing
Vanessa Reiser
André Costantini
Sound and color
André Costantini