Me and PD #4

     When you have Parkinson's disease, I think it's normal to look back on your life, and wonder was their a specific thing at a specific time you did to get this disease. Was it because when I was young, I lived in an older farmhouse and grew up drinking well water? Did pesticides from the fields of corn get into the water? Or was it from being on an old ship in the navy and being exposed to all kinds of toxins and environmental hazards? Was it when I worked as a home inspector on the east coast and again was exposed to a lot of environmental hazards such as asbestos. Was it from experimenting with things I should not have been when I was younger? (Of course this is totally hypothetical!) Was it from receiving a few concussions throughout my life? Did I get it from chewing on a piece of grass or weed from a farm field that was just sprayed and didn't know? Or is it just plain hereditary? I guess I'll never know, but I think about it!
     PD is such a unique disease, it does not affect everyone the same. Not everyone that has PD has the exact same symptoms, and they vary in intensity. PD also progresses at a different rate in each patient. All of this makes it very difficult to treat! There is a constant adjusting of medications as you progress. I am very lucky to have the University of Nebraska Medical Center so close. My doctor which is a movement disorder specialist is involved in research for PD at UNMC, which is on the cutting edge of PD research. I have been involved in one of the research projects and will gladly participate in any they ask me too. Anything I can do, I will!
     I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for July 25th, but had to move it up because my meds are not working as well as they were, so now it is scheduled for the first part of May. At which time I will give an update. Thanks for listening and stay tuned.

Me and PD #3

     This week was kind of rough, it seems my meds weren't working like they should. I had a lot of rigidity at work and I been really sore! These are called wearing off spells, or "off times" when the meds are not working as well. "On times" are when they are. There could be a lot of reasons for this. After about five years or so anti-Parkinson meds cease to work as well and you need to up the dose or shorten the periods between doses. I doubt this is the case as I have only been taking them for a couple of years I think my problem is I have to take them six times a day, either 1/2 hour before a meal, or 1/2 hour after a meal for them to work effectively! Are you kidding me? For you people that know me very well this is damn near impossible because of my love of food. If I'm hungry, I'm not going to let a little pill stop me. Plus you are supposed to take them religiously at the same time every day. There are only a couple of things I do at the same time every day, but we won't get into that! I guess I really need to be more regimented in order to keep the beast away!
      Exercise is very important for people with Parkinson's. Some of the best exercises are yoga, tai chi, dance classes and just plain old walking. I am presently taking a boxing class at a boxing gym in Omaha called Mick Doyles. Mick has been involved in boxing his whole life and has been trained to teach PD patients. The reason boxing is so good is because it forces your brain and body to work together. PEOPLE, I have not had a workout like this in a very long time. Mick does not cut you any slack because you have a disease. He believes in building your endurance, even if it makes you hurl! Or you end up in a corner in the fetal position! I really am glad I go and it does help, but it's kind of a love hate relationship.
     I guess that's all for today. Thanks for listening and stay tuned.

Me and PD #2

     For all of you that have given me positive feedback about this blog, I thank you! It's nice to know that people are interested in learning about my gift. Today was a hard day. I went to work and it takes awhile for my meds to kick in. I wake up at 5:00 and right away take my meds but I'm at work by 6:30 and my tremor is still pretty well doing it's thing, but calms down after awhile. I only work part time (3 days a week), do to fatigue. I work at JC Penney in sales support, so I work in a lot of different areas, doing a lot of different things. Every day is different which is what I like. I love the people I work with. I been there going on about five years and have made a lot of close friends and they have been very supportive of my condition! Judy my immediate supervisor, cuts me no slack, and challenges me to do things that are not easy, but yet are good for me mentally as well as physically. I'm going to work as long as I can, because it's good for me and besides what else would I do?
      Anxiety can be a symptom of PD, and is one of mine, I find I don't like crowds, or a lot of noise and activity. When I get nervous or anxious my tremor is really more pronounced. So going to Wal-Mart on a Saturday afternoon will turn me into a blur. I'm glad I went to a lot of concerts when I was younger, (some of them I even remember,) because I couldn't handle one now! 
     Did you know Nebraska has the highest rate of Parkinson's disease per capita in the world? No one has completely figured out why, but they think it has to do with pesticides, maybe getting in the ground water. This is just a theory, no one knows for sure. There are many things that they believe causes PD, but I'll get into that later. I won't blog every day, but I'll try to do a couple a week. I'll talk about the future, the present, and for you people that can handle it, I'll even visit the past here and there. That should be a wild ride! I'll talk about my days with PD good and bad. I'll get into what is going on as far as research, different medications and how they work, and the various resources for people with PD and their caregivers and family members or just friends of people with PD. That's all for today. Thanks for listening and stay tuned.

Me and PD

    Today is my first blog,and I really don't know what I'm doing,but my hope is I can figure it out. I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in Feb. of 09. Prior to that about three years earlier, I was diagnosed with what they call essential tremor, a common misdiagnosis for PD. When I first heard my diagnosis, I was numb, how could have this be happening to me? I was only 57 and I thought I was superman. I looked at my long time girlfriend Diana, and asked what do I do now? She looked at me and said WE deal with it! Diana and I got back together about 12 years ago, after being high school sweethearts and then leading separate lives for many years. She is my angel and my best friend! More on that later. My current symptoms of this disease is a tremor in my left hand. rigidity, soreness pretty much all over, and fatigue. Of course there are other symptoms that concern bodily functions that I don't care to discuss publicly. Of course I should fill you in on what Parkinson's disease is! It is a chronic and progressive movement disorder that involves the malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain, called neurons. Some of these dying neurons produce dopamine, a chemical that sends messages to the brain that controls movement and coordination. As PD progresses, the amount of dopamine decreases, leaving a person unable to control movement normally. I take a medication called sinamet 6 times a day, that is like artificial dopamine that helps control my symptoms to a certain degree. I hope to continue blogging on a regular basis, so you can follow my progress with PD, and help me make more people aware of this disease and the different ways you can help in the race to find a cure. That's all for today and thanks for reading.