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Congresswoman Opens Up On ‘Incurable’ Brain Disease Diagnosis: ‘Too Young For This’

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6 months ago

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Back in April of 2023, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) shared news revealing her diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Just months later, her condition worsened with doctors upgrading her diagnosis to progressive supra-nuclear palsy. Wexton, who had been gearing up for her third congressional term, is now sharing her health journey as she prepares to step away from politics at the end of the year.

Though she was determined to keep serving Virginia, her body couldn’t keep up with her. “Cognitively, I’m the person I’ve always been,” Wexton, 55, told PEOPLE. “But there are things that it takes me a lot longer to do.”

Initially, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but subsequent evaluations determined it was PSP, which can cause difficulties with movement, balance, speech, and other symptoms. PSP is sometimes mistaken for Parkinson’s because of similar symptoms like stiffness and difficulty with balance and movement. PSP, however, progresses more rapidly and can also lead to other issues like difficulty with swallowing, vision problems due to impaired eye movement, and cognitive impairment.

Shortly after the 2022 election, Wexton’s political plans took a hit when she noticed her fingers and toes involuntarily clenching and curling. A medical examination brought the unexpected news: she had Parkinson’s disease.

“I was like, ‘Parkinson’s? I can’t have Parkinson’s!’ ” Wexton remembered. The diagnosis was particularly surprising given her low-risk profile as a woman in her 50s. “It was hard for me to deal with it at first.” In a video shared on April 11 last year on World Parkinson’s Day, Wexton went public with the diagnosis. She reassured her constituents that she planned to remain in office “for many years to come.”

“Over the past few months, [Parkinson’s] has primarily affected my speech and how my mouth moves. You may notice I speak more quickly now. It also has affected how I walk and keep my balance… What Parkinson’s is not is an untreatable disease, a cognitive impairment, or a death sentence. So please! You are welcome to empathize, but don’t feel sorry for me,” she said.

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“My symptoms were progressing much faster than everybody else’s. I asked the doctor if I could still run for office again, and he said, ‘Well, why would you want to?'” Wexton said. The doctor explained the rapid progression of the disease, warning that she might soon require a walker and that many patients develop severe disabilities within a few years.

“It was very upsetting,” she admitted. “I’m too young for this.”

“The most difficult thing is not being able to be understood as much as I’d like to be or as much as I used to be, especially as a former trial attorney and now a politician,” Wexton told PEOPLE in a follow-up message. “It’s such a big part of this job, whether it’s talking with colleagues on the House floor where it’s very loud, or participating in committee hearings, or being out around my district meeting with constituents.” The outlet reported that her speech was soft and sometimes slurred, making it hard to understand. She’s now turned to a text-to-voice feature on her iPad for committee meetings and on the House floor to make herself clear to others.

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“I feel very blessed to be able to have this job,” she said. However, there’s still more she wishes to accomplish. “I’m sad I’m going to be leaving. It’s going to be hard for me to be gone.”

“I don’t feel sorry for myself,” she said. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing all day. It’d make me crazy,” she admits. “It’d make my family crazy too.” When Wexton was first diagnosed with PSP, she and her family decided to take things one day at a time, a strategy she’s sticking to. When asked how she hopes her years of public service will be remembered, Wexton responded without hesitation: “I hope they hear that I fought every day to make people’s lives better.”



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