Twenty years ago, in 2005, Kimberly Schlapman’s life changed twice. Her singing career took off as her band, Little Big Town, landed its first top 10 hit on the country music charts with “Boondocks.” But that same year, Schlapman’s mom, Barbara, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, which has impacted their family’s life in a myriad of ways.
“We’ve had a long, slow go of it,” Schlapman told EntertainmentNow. “My family knew very, very little about Parkinson’s. We knew about tremors, and that’s all that was really happening in the beginning. But there are so many things that have changed over the 20 years, in her life and in her quality of life.”
According to Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s Disease is “a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time.” Tremors are common, per Mayo, but Parkinson’s is also known to cause stiffness, the slowing of movement, and trouble with balance.
Barbara, now 77, has bravely lived with Parkinson’s for two decades, but her symptoms have recently grown more severe, requiring 24-hour care. Schlapman is using her voice and platform to advocate for patients and their caregivers, sharing her family’s story in hopes others will feel less alone.
Kimberly Schlapman Wants to Give Parkinson’s Patients & Caregivers a Voice
One of the most important things Schlapman has learned over the years, she told EntertainmentNow, is that Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers need to feel confident about asking for what they need. So she agreed to be the face of a new advocacy campaign called Changing the Tune of Parkinson’s Disease, created in partnership with pharmaceutical company AbbVie.
The goal, according to the campaign, is “to empower people living with Parkinson’s disease and their loved ones to be vocal about the true impact of the disease on their daily life … and to work with a their doctor to find a plan that works for them.”
“We learned along the way to ask the questions,” Schlapman said, noting that in addition to asking the experts questions about caring for their mom, she and her siblings realized they needed to ask their mom questions about what she needed to thrive.
“She always just wants everything to be okay, and she’s such an inspiration and such a fighter,” Schlapman said. “But we ask her questions, we advocate for her. You know, by asking questions like ‘How do you think your medicine is working? What do you think is better? What do you think is worse?'”
Regularly getting their mom’s insights on how it feels to be inside her body, grappling with the effects of Parkinson’s, allows Schlapman’s family to figure out “how we can make changes and talk with the doctor and, you know, find what’s best suited for her,” she said.
Kimberly Schlapman Moved With Her Husband & Daughters to Be Closer to Her Mom
Schlapman and her husband Stephen, along with their daughters Daisy, 18, and Dolly, 8, recently moved from Nashville to South Carolina to be closer to her parents. But the Grammy winner credits her brother and sister with handling many of their mom’s caregiving needs.
“I’m out of town a ton, and can’t be with my parents physically as as often as I would like to be,” Schlapman told EntertainmentNow. “My brother and sister are superstars, really taking care of my parents and especially my mother. My sister, I call her our family quarterback. She schedules all the care, family given and professional care, so she knows what (everyone’s) time slot is. And my brother is there all the time, he cooks for them, and we keep in contact about it all constantly.”
Although Schlapman may be known for her flawless harmonies and glamorous red carpet looks, she told EntertainmentNow that being someone’s caregiver is a great equalizer, and she feels no different than anyone else in that role.
“I’ve always just felt like a person with a normal job,” Schlapman said, “but I get to sit in hair and makeup chair and get really glamorous sometimes. Still, I’m a mama, I’m a wife, I’m a sister, I’m a child, I’m a daughter. Just like everyone does, we just get done what we’ve got to get done.”
When Schlapman’s not on the road for work, she said, “I get there as often as I can, I stay as long as I can, and help as much as I can. You know, I feel like it’s my mama, anything and everything I possibly can manage to do for her, I will, just like any good daughter would.”
