Getting it through my thick head

When will I get it through my thick head that I NEED to get enough sleep and exercise (not at the same time) and to remember to take my vitamins as well as my meds?  the last few weeks I've felt just awful.  I had hardly any "on" time, got exhausted by the smallest things and was unable to exercise because of the fatigue, stiffness and pain.  Then I remembered that I had not taken my vitamins all through the holidays and well into February, so I started up again a couple weeks ago.  I also decided to exercise even though it knocked me out.  Sure enough, I'm soooooo much better now.

I am both Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D deficient, like a lot of other Parkies.  Fortunately, the oral supplements work just fine for me.  I tend to stop taking them when I feel better;  I hate taking more pills.  It's time to face the facts, though; I'm going to have to probably take them for the rest of my life. O.K.; could be worse.

If I don't exercise, I always regret it.  I get stiff and shaky and then it becomes a vicious circle.  No matter how much I don't feel like it, I have to remember to get up and walk, to dance, to do something and not just sit there turning into a statue.

So, I guess I'd better pull on my "big girl panties" and get on with it, right?

Just another Sunday

Forgot to "Spring forward" last night, so I'm all discombobulated this morning.  My husband and I went to our support group meeting yesterday, and as usual, we left feeling uplifted and hopeful.  It's just so great to be with a group of people who know and understand exactly what you're going through.  We meet once a month, but every time we go, we pick up conversations as if we had just been together the day before.

I found my support group through PPSG (Parkinson's Patients Support Groups, Inc.).  Here's a link: Parkinson's Patients Support Groups, Inc.
(I did the artwork for the landing page on this site, by the way.  I'm kind of proud of it :)).  I'm a big believer in support groups, though I know they aren't for everyone.

The Parkinson's Community; alive and kicking.

Sometimes I get little messages of hope.  I was just mentally settling down to have a nice little pity party, and out of the blue, this stranger calls me.  He was just diagnosed a year and a half ago, got my name from a friend who got if off the internet and realized that we both live in the same neighborhood, and called me to see how I was doing.  Here's this 65 year old man, still trying to recover from the shock of the diagnosis, and he's reaching out to me because he knows I'm walking the same path that he is, and he wants to offer support to me!  I was amazed and really touched.  He and his wife were just starting to enjoy their semi-retirement (they are both geologists and are used to traveling all over the world in pursuit of data on earthquakes and slides) when they had this bomb dropped on them.  But he's not letting it get him down, that's for sure.  He's researching and working on it, going to the Institute for exercise and physical therapy, and most of all, keeping a positive attitude.  He was an inspiration to talk to, and I plan on keeping in touch.

It was a reminder to me that none of us are alone, though it may feel that way sometimes.  The Parkinson's community is very much alive, though tenuous in places.

So thanks, Mike, for the wake-up call!