Round 2 The Sequel

After a careful analysis of my injuries my guru (my wife) and I have concluded that festination was not the cause of my fall. Oh, it was caused by PD, just not the festination problem. Our thinking process was as follows:

• the sorest part of my lower body is the big toe of my right foot
• the majority of damage is to the left side of my body
• the back of my left hand is a conspicuous mess, as is the left side of my face.
• PwP tend to shuffle, even when running
• the right side of my body is most affected by PD which tends to cause the right leg not to work as well as the left
• As usual when I run, I daydream
• I was daydreaming

Ergo my right foot is the culprit. In a shuffle, my right toe hit the pavement and as my left leg completed the step, my right foot dragged, sending me into an uncontrollable fall. I can distinctly recall the last moment before I hit. I was passing over my left leg and trying to get my head onto the grass to the left of me. My left arm braced for impact and buckled under me, damaging the back of my hand. I was unsuccessful in reaching the grass. No festination, just a part of the old PD Gait.

Case closed.

Prepare for round 3

In Round 3, I will come out swinging. As Muhammad Ali once said "If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize."

Here are some examples of the PD gait which develops over time. Not every person with PD will have all or even some of them.

• Difficulty or slowness to start walking as a result of developing bradykinesia.
• Shortened stride.
• Bending forwards while walking, with rapid, small, shuffling steps and a tendency to run (festination). Festination may only develop at later stages of the disease and becomes more pronounced as the disease progresses. So, I have only suffered the symptom one time last winter and maybe the doctor will be right and I will never encounter it again.
• Stiff, flexed posture is due to rigidity or increased muscular tone.
• Tendency to stoop and lean forward while walking.
• Difficulty in maintaining balance on turning is due to impaired postural righting reflexes.
• Reduced arm swing while walking, especially on the side where Parkinson’s is more pronounced.
• Tendency to fall, due to poor balance, may develop at a later stage of Parkinson’s disease.
• Freezing – inability to move or start walking or stopping in mid-step, as if frozen on the spot (‘statue’).