Statistics for July

Page view for the month of July

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And that's only the top 10, several other countries dropped by in July, for a total of a little over 15,000 since the inception of the blog. Thank you all.

Nothing is quite so sure as change.

Went to the cottage this past weekend and did nothing of any consequence. I tried to watch "The Game Of Thrones". I had heard it was very good but during the 3rd episode, I fell asleep. I am not enamoured with the show but maybe the good parts happened while I napped. I will watch the remainder of season one and, if nothing else, I should get some good naps along the way. The rest of my time was spent editing my daughter-in-laws PhD thesis and thinking about changes that have happened in the 3 years since diagnosis.

When PD first struck me, it did so with a vengeance. The pain of a leg cramp with your foot curling in and up is beyond description and all that time, I had the embarrassment of a visible hand tremor. Medication seemed to put those symptoms to bed but they were quickly followed by an excess of saliva and a slurring of words. Both went away. Next came by one encounter with festination, a purely negative experience. It has not bothered me since and my neurologist told me it might never happen again. For the past few weeks, I have been shuffling along and now that seems to have corrected itself. All I am left with is difficulty speaking - losing my train of thought, stumbling over words or forgetting them completely. I am hoping for a change in that problem too.

The symptoms seem to come and go and I don't know why. All I know is things are bound to change over time and eventually, I may suffer some or all of the symptoms of PD or maybe some clever person will find a cure. I remain positive that there will be changes for the better, but every so often, the condition throws a wrench into the works and a little negativity creeps in to disrupt my sunny disposition.

In the words of W.H. Audwn, "We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons."

If you are a victim, you must remember to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affimative. Don't mess with Mr. In Between.

Thus endeth today's sermon.

Radar can't locate a ninja.

I can no longer achieve my life-long goal of becoming a ninja. As a youngster, I wanted it all; well, except for the assassin part. Ninjas have an uncanny ability to sneak up on their enemies and slay them so quietly that their victims don't even know what killed them. I can remember practising the art of walking quietly, in stocking feet, using big steps, with my feet landing toe first to reduce the possibility of noise. Never did succeed but now it has become impossible. I have become acquainted with the shuffle. Not the ipod, the foot shuffle, especially my right foot. I have to consciously land heel first to avoid making any noise. An anomaly in the sidewalk presents a real challenge. However, life goes on and I am certain my pill regime will change with my next visit to the neuro; but, I can never again aspire to ninjaship.

Doesn't really matter. Black is not becoming on me.

"In a clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade..."

I am a pugilist, in the ring with parkinson's. Exercise is in my corner but it is trying to convince me to throw in the towel. I want to yell, NO MAS, but, I don't. I keep on slugging away. I run and walk and lift weights and stretch; all in the belief that exercise will slow down PD until some genius can give me a technique to deliver the knock out punch. Until then, I know I won't defeat PD by exercising; but, maybe I can knock it to the mat every so often. However, the fact remains, for now the disease keeps on getting up before the count reaches 10 and is just going to continue to pummel me. I am pretty much defenceless.

It's like I am shadow boxing and the shadow keeps winning.

Even the great Ali, was beaten by PD.

I need some distraction

Bob Dylan wrote: "Something is happening, but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?". Buffalo Springfield sang: "There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear". Pretty similar, don't you think?

Coincidence? Who knows? Who cares? The songs just popped into my head because there is something happening here, with me, but it is disappointingly clear. You see, I am a little light-headed and I am having trouble maneuvering around corners and things on the floor. I haven't come close to falling, but I do tend to pull in one direction - ie - to my right, like a car whose wheels need to be balanced. It is PD raising its sad, ugly head. Oh well, I am certain this symptom will come and go just like all the others have. It is a real roller coaster ride.

To feel better, I went to the lake for the weekend and walked for an hour each day. For those readers in far off lands, who have never seen or heard of our inland sea, here are some details. It is the 11th largest lake in the world but unfortunately, it is number one on the world's endangered lakes list. It is not polluted yet and probably never will be, as some dedicated people are raising awareness and taking steps to reduce the amount of nutrients, running off of farm land and pouring into the lake. In the meantime, it is a popular recreation destination and supports a large fishery. For me, it is my distraction, my sanctum sanctorum, in the strictly secular sense of the word, especially at 5 in the morning when I am walking all alone. I mean, who else goes out at that time of the day? The walk and isolation relax me and for a few hours I can forget about symptoms. Forgetting is becoming my opiate. It allows me to wallow in oblivion and maintain my sanity. That's a good thing folks. Here's to conscious unconsciousness.

The Lake

"Jogging is good for the ground. It makes it feel needed"*

I have taken up running 3 or 4 times a week and I hate every step. I always have despised running, yet I ran obsessively, 4 or 5 time per week, for more than 30 years before the onset of my dark passenger - PD. I even held a provincial record in the one mile race walk (an odd form of slow running) when I was 46. Held it for one year until some university student from Saskatchewan shattered it by an enormous margin.

When I was diagnosed, I decided to lay off running on the off chance that I might fall. It was a good excuse to avoid it. However, I started to gain weight - not much, but when I ran, I could always eat whatever I wanted without repercussion, and so I started running again a couple of months ago and bingo, I was afraid of falling and did fall once. To counteract the force of gravity trying to pull my torso forward and down, I adopted the style of that great American 400m runner Michael Johnson. I have to physically keep my body stiff at a right angle to the ground. I look ridiculous, but I have lost some weight. Things are looking up.

I was on a PD forum recently when a member mentioned he was regularly running to build strong leg muscles to help prevent falls. Another member responded that the falling problem wasn't due to weak legs; the problem was in his brain and no matter how strong his leg muscles were, they wouldn't stop him from falling if his brain decided otherwise (a precis of the conversation but you get the drift). Sad, but true, our brains are deteriorating and we are slowly losing control. Fortunately, drugs can control the symptoms and the future does not look too bleak. Therefore run, if you will, get strong legs, can't hurt, but it won't prevent a fall; but, exercise, including running, seems to slow the progression of the condition. So, I will continue my Michael Johnson imitation (running at 100th of his speed) until I can no longer run or somebody sees me and starts laughing.

On the upside, at least I will lose more weight.

After thought - I am fairly certain a buckled sidewalk caused my fall, not PD.

*based on a Charles Schulz quote.

I'm so dry

I think I must be living about a mile from the sun in the Sahara Desert. For one thing, it is hot, I think around 30C. When people on the prairies complain about the heat, others around them reply with "Yes, but it is a dry heat", like some liturgical responsive reading. I don't know what their definition of "dry" is, because it rained for what seemed like all of June and yet there is a lingering, desert-like dryness in my mouth.

Yes, it's true. today's sermon is entitled "What's up with my dry mouth?" Right now, my lips feel like leather and no amount of licking or using that lip gloss stuff helps at all and, what moisture there is, completely disappears when I have to do any serious talking. You can imagine the embarrassment! You are talking to someone who is about to spend a million dollars on something and you are constantly licking your lips. He must be thinking Either that guy really likes me or he can't stop thinking about his fee No such luck mate. You're not my type and I should have charged you more. I'm just a guy with a mouth full of nothing and wondering if he should get another glass of water, or a coke or maybe even a glass of wine, un verre de vin. Voila! Une solution possible.

To get serious folks, apparently some PD medications can cause dry mouth. If you are a sufferer, here are some tips

• Drink eight or more cups of liquid each day. A friend told me 8 cups of water wouldn't cause me to urinate more often. If he is reading this, "You were wrong on that count pal".
• Limit caffeine. Drat! There goes my Coke.
• Dunk your cookies in milk, tea, etc. Get them moist. Probably good advice that I won't follow.
• Limit alcohol intake and don't use a commercial mouthwash. They usually contain alcohol. Alcohol can dry your mouth. Just remember, with honesty and no regrets, the morning after your youthful indiscretions the evening before, waking up parched and begging for water.
• Use artificial saliva. In Canada, it is available across the counter but you have to ask the pharmacist for it. Get the liquid spray form because the gel is somewhat gross.

I guess I will have another glass of water.