Hot town; summer in the city

Here I am, still in the Florida heat. Yesterday it was 29C. It has been near that everyday since we arrived and I have not experienced any significant symptoms. Maybe a finger twitch but nothing of any consequence. It must be the heat, I say to myself, but I think not. I think lack of stress and lack of symptoms are directly proportional. These past days I have been completely relaxed. No stress or distress. A lack of stress must be the reason for the lack of symptoms.

What role does stress play in PD? Apparently, a pretty significant one.

According to a new Northwestern Medicine study published Nov. 10 (2010) in the journal Nature, dopamine-releasing neurons in a region of the brain called the substantia nigra lead a lifestyle that requires lots of energy, creating stress that could lead to the neurons' premature death. Their death causes Parkinson's disease.

I have always thought there was a difference between "stress" and "distress". I embraced stress. I felt that stress was healthy, a positive motivator up to the point it evolved into distress. Today, I hesitate to find any difference in the two concepts. Now stress and distress are synonymous and I have to find ways to avoid them, to slay, or even tame, that dragon. A PWP should avoid stress in ways that avoiding stress itself, does not create stress by that avoidance. The individual must find those ways in his or her life to relax and avoid stress.

May I suggest sex or a chocolate bar.

Get these mutts away from me

It seems it only takes two things to keep residents of South Beach happy - a cell phone and a dog, usually a pit bull. The taller pit bulls are beautiful dogs that terrify me but, in all the years I have come here, I have only been accosted once by a yapping dog. It happened at the opening to the board walk. A young woman was walking two dogs on leashes and one got away. I was the nearest target and it ran up to me and around me, barking all the time. I wasn't thrilled. Its owner was calling it to get back to her. To stop the dog, I took a chance and stepped on its leash that was trailing behind him. I somehow got too close to his head and brought him to a screeching halt. I doubt I will ever forget the stunned look on its face when the leash went taught and took him to the ground. The owner arrived and thanked me before the dog could seek revenge. It was a beautiful purebred, but somehow, somewhat scary. I didn't know it was a pit bull until my daughter told me when I pointed one out in the park.

If you have never been to South Beach, let me describe the "board" walk for you (most of it is cement from 5th to 23rd Streets but beyond it is actually a board walk). Any way, it is a curving path that is bordered by a coral wall on the ocean side and a grass park on the other. Across from the park is Ocean Drive on which there are 11 blocks of art deco hotels, really quite unique. I usually walk/run the 17 blocks to the actual board walk and back. The board walk is crowded with people trying to walk without bumping into texters and dog walkers and all the while avoiding guys on bikes, on segues, on skate boards and roller blades. Most of these human obstacles are competent on their vehicles but, not all of them. I almost got knocked over by a girl on roller blades. She came up from behind and I didn't hear her because my ipod was at maximum loudness. She brushed by me and I could see she was an amateur, a beautiful, totally incompetent, young woman in a bikini. Her arms were flailing around, trying to keep balance. Her feet movements were awkward and tentative. She wore all the necessary protection, except for one - no helmet. As she continued around a bend, I heard a curse as someone went down. I hoped it wasn't the girl because if it was, she could have serious head/brain problems. It wasn't her but a skateboader who had tried to jump over power lines crossing the boardwalk to power the Wine and Food Festival on the beach. The skater had no head protection either, but was skilled enough not to have hurt himself. The girl got to the power lines, stopped, and held onto a pole to step over them. Smart. But I thought to myself that she would rather look good with no helmet than protect her brain, the only organ that can't be repaired. Her vanity trumped her health.

There is some thought that a serious bump on the head can commence the downward slide into PD. It probably takes more than one bump, but who knows. I suffered only one serious head knock when I stepped on a puck during a hockey practice. I was down and momentarily "out" in a blink of an eye and look at me now. I am not saying that one bump caused my dopamine cells to start dying, but, as I said who knows? So here's some advice to the beautiful people, start a trend, protect your brain, wear a helmet when going faster than nature intended.

Remember, only the lead dog gets a change in scenery.

Of cops, homeless men and Whoop-te-do

South Beach, especially Ocean Drive, is very safe. Normally there are police all over the place, in cars, on bikes and ATV's and on foot. My wife and I started our walk, when I stumbled upon a wallet fat with money and credit cards. An ID card showed the owner to be from Maine. The chances of me finding him were nil, so we decided to give it to a cop. There were none in sight. What were the odds? This place is usually littered with the Po-leese. We got our exercise in trying to find one. A half hour later we located a cop , seated on an ATV. Young and muscular. Enough to impress anyone. He took the wallet, opened it and remarked sarcastically, "A wallet. And there is still money in it!" like he would normally expect the money to be gone. But then he looked up and sincerely said, "Thank you". We walked away, satisfied we had done our duty

If you are going to be homeless, South Beach is the place to be. Not only is it hot, there is plenty of room to set up home. They sleep in the open, all day, hardly ever moving. The beach goers walk by and essentially ignore them, sneaking peeks out of the corner of one eye. One man, an old fellow with dreads and a huge suit case, has been in the same spot now for the past 4 years. He just sits and sits some more. Another guy is permanently dressed as Santa Clause. Most just wear dirty clothing better suited for colder climates. Some times these mysterious men gather in groups to swap "war" stories and make fun of ordinary people walking by. No harm done. They should have their moments, but this all happens in the shadows of million dollar condos in multi-million dollar high rises.

At the same time, the world famous South Beach Wine and Food Festival is happening. Last year we decided to attend. It cost $150 each. How extremely decadent and wasteful. You gather in these enormous tents where famous chefs treat you a taste of their ware. Wine and alcohol is free and flowing. It was a total waste of money. There were so many people there, it was difficult to get a sample of food. I figure it cost about $10 per bite. I wonder what the homeless thought? I know I would have gotten more satisfaction splitting he $300 between Dreadlocks and Santa Claus.

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a 3 mile walk (too nervous to run)I felt good. In fact, I feel really good. No symptoms at all. Is it the heat or lack of stress? Whatever it is, give me more. I like feeling normal! Did you hear that world? I LIKE FEELING NORMAL!

It was a slow day and the sun was beating on....

It is HOT down here! We escaped a winter storm in Winnipeg and 14 hours later (stopovers in Chicago and Washington), we arrived in South Miami Beach in the summer; although, the natives indigenous to the region think the days are rather cool. They literally do not know what cold is and yet they probably have parkas for the "cold" fronts that occasionally pass through. Happily, the temperature is expected to rise over the next few days.

But onto Parkinson's. The only symptom that showed up on the plane trip was constipation. This I enjoyed because BPD (before parkinson's disease) my only fear of flying was I might be stricken with diarrhea on take off or landing. Can you imagine! No such problems or fears these days.

Today, I walked about 3 miles and no symptoms appeared. My stride was good and my arm swing was natural. I felt completely normal! So, what gives? A coincidence maybe? Probably. I will find out tomorrow as I am going to try running again, an activity I despise but that has kept me fit and lean over the years.

"I don't think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups." - Rita Rudner

However, if heat and jogging will help calm the symptoms of PD, or cause its progress to slow down, then I'm there buddy, I am there.

Right now, I am truly relaxed and feel optimistic about my future. Of course feeling otherwise would cause sheer terror and I choose not to live like that.

I had to stop driving my car for a while... the tires got dizzy. (Steven Wright)

I went to the hockey game last night and enjoyed it immensely, even though the home team lost. The problem is, after the game, my mind was racing and I could not get to sleep until well after 1 AM. I haven't been up that late since the 60's. Come to think of it, I never slept in the 60's, so I guess that doesn't count, but it has been a long stretch since I last saw 1AM. It is not a pleasant sight

Today, I feel very "parkie". My legs seem weak and severe cramps played with me all night. My shoulders hurt. I feel like I will fall over at any moment. Slightly nauseous. But the worst feeling is dizziness. It is not as bad as spin-around-try-to-walk dizziness. It is just a light-headed kind of dizziness. A particularly very annoying type of dizziness. And to think, I once wanted to reach the dizzy heights of hyper success. What! and miss all this!

My little friends are around today as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a young mother, down on one knee, comforting a child. They literally last a part of a second and then disappear or morph into somebody or something else. They don't bother me in the least. For once I am surrounded by people.

All these occurred, I believe, because I was late getting to sleep.

I really need sleep because I am exhausted most of the day. To misquote E.A. Poe"Sleep..those little slices of death - How I adore them!"I've developed a love affair for sleep. There is no day time problem that can't be fixed by an afternoon nap, which is what I am going to do now, but before I lay me down to sleep...... Check this out - 10,007 page views to date.

Je me Souviendrai, demain, Wednesday at the latest

I didn't follow my meds regime yesterday. I was too busy balancing my books and I forgot all about PD. The result, predictably, was a return of one of my symptoms that the drugs seem to easily control........ Balance, or lack thereof. Can you recall the first few times, in your youth, when you got drunk. All those times you got wasted to avoid wasting time? It was fun and rather dangerous because you didn't seem to have control over your legs. Remember, when you went to rise out of a chair, you would invariably stumble and grab onto the nearest object while muttering a slurred "Oh Oh". Well when my symptoms are making themselves public, I have that same feeling of a lack of control. Getting up out of a soft sofa is problematic. So far I have always succeeded but I know that someday, I might have to grab on to something or some one and my utterance will make more sense than "Oh OH" and certainly will not be suitable children. Until that day, I will survive.

As I was writing the last paragraph, an image of the licence plates in Quebec popped into my failing brain. The provincial motto since the late 1800's is "je me souviens". I don't know what they are remembering. All I know is, I should write it on the back of my hand (future tense, of course)so that je n'oublierai pas to take my medication.

Another fall, in public, is inevitable. I will spit out an embarrassed giggle and try to make myself invisible. Fortunately, I have no problem telling everyone I am stricken with parkinson's, so that won't happen. I will gather my dignity, get back up, dust myself off and explain to the concerned audience that my acrobatics were caused by PD. I will inform them that, just like Michael J Fox, PD is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Right!

“It was a lie but he believed in telling lies to people. Truth telling and medicine just didn't go together except in dire emergencies, if then.” (from The Godfather)

Me & Gravity

I hate to harp on about it, but my relationship with gravity has become permanently damaged. Yes, it is true, I am at war with gravity which, by the way, is not easily won. Today, I had to revisit the the law of gravity (which I now have to consult before taking my morning walk.). Simply said, the law of gravity is F = G x [(m1 + m2) / (d x d)] or, if you prefer, "things fall downward".

More relevant is the body's centre of gravity (or centre of mass). Being somewhat of a nerd, I had to have a definition and found this:

"the point at which the entire weight of a body may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the body would remain in equilibrium in any position."

Interesting (or perhaps not). I further discovered my centre of mass is located about midway up my torso, ergo, if I fall, it is because I lean too far forward when I walk, placing my centre of gravity out in front of my feet and I become unstable. The result is, I fall down (after of course, enduring that humiliating uncontrolled walk/run). I can defeat gravity be remaining upright.

Eureka!

Of course, I had to test my hypothesis on my walk this morning. Do you know how hard it is to consciously keep one's body in a strict 90 degree, statuesque, position over 2.5 miles? I didn't make it, but fortunately, gravity was just reconnoitering today, trying to figure out my strategy. It is determined to get me. How annoying is that? But ever onward, I shall walk as if a stick were placed well into the external opening of my rectum.

Waiting around for nature to make a fool of you can be a total pain in the ass!

Falling's not the problem. When I'm falling I'm in peace; It's only when I hit the ground It causes all the grief” -Florence Welch

Went for a long walk today and the "feeling" came, that feeling being one of falling forward, or about to fall forward. There is a "tell" to the symptom, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe. I think of normal walking as just a controlled falling. You raise one foot and swing it forward to prevent a fall - then you it again and so on. The tell in the PD condition is a feeling like you are not going to be able to prevent the fall and you have to do something about it.

Since there is not much written about the condition in the PD forums, I wondered if maybe I was imagining the feeling, so I went on the internet, my cyber MD, and found this description of PD walking:

"Walking, as James Parkinson noted, involves a bent-forward posture with shuffling, short steps and reduced swinging of the arms. Sometimes the body's center of gravity gets ahead of the feet's ability to catch up, resulting in the passing 'from a walking to a running pace' that Parkinson described and is known as festination." (http://www.cordingleyneurology.com/parkinson.html)

So, such a condition does exist and apparently, is not that uncommon. Fortunately, at the moment anyway, I can feel it coming on and I use one of the tricks described in an early entry and I am able to ward it off. I finished the 2.5 mile walk with ease.

I am determined not to be known for my falling but rather for my ability to get back up once I am down

The Log Driver's Waltz

It is still cold out. Well, maybe not all that cold. About -25C. I put on more layers than an Antarctic explorer and go out into the fresh, but frosty, morning (5AM). It is Sunday so I will be amazed if I see anyone or anymore than 3 or 4 cars. I decide to walk on the other side of the street, the side the junior high is on. The sidewalk grader has taken a couple of inches of snow off the walk and hundreds of students' footprints have packed the remaining snow down so that the sidewalk is as slick as the ice on a nearby hockey rink. I have "Johnny B. Goode", the George Thorogood rendition, on the ipod and it has given life to my pace. I hit an icy spot in front of the school and suddenly my arms are flailing about. I am an out-of-control marionette. My feet are those of a log driver burling down the river. Somehow, in all this confusion, fortunately without an audience, I manage to remain upright, but I still cringe and curse the winter. The only good thing is, it was not caused by PD and the remainder of my walk is uneventful.

Fortunately, we leave winter behind us in 2 weeks. We are going back to South Beach (Miami) to enjoy a few weeks of summer. We leave behind our children, one of whom occupies the house and has said he will keep our walkways clear of snow (sure he will!) and grandchildren. We will miss them, of course, but hey - we arrive the day before President's Day, my wife's favourite day. If you have never been in the States on Black Friday or President's Day, you have missed out on the best shopping days in North America. When stores in the USA have a sale, it is truly a SALE. My wife has her Macy's credit card ready to go, while I will just soak up the sun. I have found that my symptoms are less of a nuisance in the warm air so I will spend many hours just walking the board walk and admiring the art deco hotels.

I dreamt last night that I was running the beach. I could actually feel the breeze as I cruised along. I haven't run in months, afraid that I would lose my centre of gravity and be totally out of control. But, I am going to try again, early in the morning, when the denizens of the beach are only the homeless and the seagulls. I used to hate running. Now I am looking forward to making the attempt. I think it was Babe Ruth who was quoted as saying something to the effect not to let the fear of striking out keep you back. OK Babe, I won't be afraid. The heat and the beach await. Onward and upward, blah, blah, blah. I will keep you posted.

At last, to get away from this gallery of frost.

Smoking is hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs. (King James I)

Well, it turns out smoking is not all bad. Oh, it can still cause your death in a grizzly manner, but nicotine, the main drug in a cigarette, can be beneficial. In 2001, it was discovered that there was an inverse relationship between PD and smoking. In fact, cigarette smokers are as high as 60% (another study says 44%)less likely to develop PD and that protection can last up to 25 years after the smoker quits.

Last April an Israeli research team:

"announced the results of genetic tests conducted on blood samples from 677 Italian Parkinson's patients, 438 of whom never smoked cigarettes and 239 of whom currently or used to smoke. Initial findings show a link between nicotine dependence and a protective mechanism against Parkinson's disease, but only in people who had been exposed to nicotine in the past."

The researchers found that certain genes become addicted to nicotine and protect the dopamine producing cells.

Good, but should we all take up smoking ?

Well, it turns out that while nicotine is the drug that has the bad reputation, it is a combination of nicotine and other drugs in the cigarette that cause life-threatening conditions; you know, like cancer & COPD, to name a couple. Nicotine alone may be beneficial. The researchers were quick to point out that "smoking-related illnesses outweigh the benefits", but they are continuing to search for a drug that has the benefits of smoking without having to smoke. That's good, I have never smoked and never will but, I would wear a nicotine patch if it is ever approved for PWP. If I started smoking, I might not be able to stop and would never want to be like Mark Twain who said:

"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."