Sunday, September 19, 2010

My Vacation "Do's" and "Don'ts" List



My husband and I just got back from Maui, Hawaii last night. What a great vacation! The trip was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and neither of us had been to Hawaii before, so we had no idea what to expect. We had looked up activities in the usual books and internet sites, so we had a list of things we’d like to do, but we only made reservations ahead of time for a couple of them. We wanted to “hang loose” and not be on a schedule. Good decision!

As usual these days, I had to compensate for the Parkinson’s. Here’s a list of “do’s and dont’s” that I found helped me out (insert the usual disclaimer here: this is MY experience, and everyone is different):

1) Don’t borrow trouble. Don’t assume that you can’t do something you’d like to do because of PD. You might surprise yourself. I went snorkeling in the ocean and swimming in the hotel pool. I took a submarine ride, I danced, did a lot of walking, explored a cave and rode a bicycle 28 miles down the side of a volcano, and I had no idea ahead of time whether I could do any of it.



2) Do allow for contingencies, and be ready to change your plans. For instance, I wasn’t sure that I could do the whole bike ride, so we checked with the bike tour company and made sure that we could be picked up if it turned out I couldn’t make it (to tell the truth, one more little hill, and I would have been flagging the van down). In other words, be flexible.



1) Do remember to take your meds on time! This was surprisingly hard to do, with all the distractions and the time change and all.
2) Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it. People want to help, particularly if you are a customer. There was one lady on the submarine ride with us who was having trouble walking, and they arranged for her caregiver to go with her and get her settled on the sub, even though the caregiver was not going on the trip.
3) Do be prepared for increased symptoms due to being tired, eating food you’re not used to, and general distraction and excitement. Try to get enough rest, and let others in your party go and do their own thing if you’re really not up to it. It’s o.k. to take a nap or just sit and do some crochet; you’re on vacation. That being said, though, don’t let Parkinson’s ruin your vacation. If you feel like dancing, try it! You can always sit down again if you have to.

Most important of all: allow yourself to have fun!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marian so glad your anniversary vacation was great! You and Bob are a terrific loving couple! Hugs to kiddo!

Alexandru said...

Stay strong, and enjoy your amazing life. You are a very lucky person :) You can appreciate the life more than others can. ;)

Marian said...

Thanks, B'nana! hugs back to you!

Thanks, Sandra; you're right, i AM a very lucky person! I try to remember that and be grateful every day.

MATINA said...


I was suffering from Parkinson's since 2016 & life had become disastrous for me,72 % of my body was covered by Tremors.After taking product from www.ultimateherbalclinic.com under supervision of Dr Ernest Albrecht, I started getting results within 3 weeks of their dosage .One day I got extremely sick, could not keep anything down, difficulty standing, restless sleep,I Started taking this remedies 2 times daily Morning and Evening, I am writing this to inform others that nothing was really working to help my PD other than this product.I went off my previous medications (with the doctor's knowledge) and started on their Parkinson's disease herbal formula.Treatment went very well and tremors are gone.

matina said...

i was diagnosed of parkinson disease 5 years ago,i started azilect,then mirapex as the disease progressed in february last year,and i started on parkinson disease herbal medicine from ultimate life clinic,few months into the treatment  i made a significant recovery,almost all my symptoms are gone,great improvement with my movement and balance,it been a year and life has been so good for me,reach them through there website at www.ultimatelifeclinic.com

About Me

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I'm a lucky lady. I have a wonderful husband of 27 years, a fantastic 25 year old son (I'm so proud of him!) a loving and supportive family, the best friends in the world, a job that I love, and... Parkinson's Disease. I was diagnosed in September 2006. That was a jolt, but I'm learning to deal with it.