<h1> It's a Long Way to Tip-a-wary</H1>

When we PWP go running or walking, we face several problems. I have encountered the following:

• falls which I believe were the result of my right foot not lifting off the ground sufficiently, thereby causing the toe to drag or hit some anomaly on the ground. One such fall had me end up with cuts and bruises to my hands and face after scoring a 9 out of 10 in the pavement face plant event.
• a couple of bouts of festination, better known as "The Parkinson's gait". If you haven't encountered this little joy yet, you won't believe it. You start off with a normal walk, then find yourself leaning forward, your gait picks up, you lean more and more forward, your gait turns into an awkward slow run, you try to straighten up but instead you fall flat on your face. I was fortunate the first time, I fell into a snow bank. The second time, I was aware of the phenomenon so that I was able to brace myself and get my hands out to lessen the impact. Festination was explained to me as being caused by the body's center of gravity gradually moving further and further away from the body. An old pro told me to consciously think "heal-toe, heel-toe" as I was walking. Good advice, but I am easily distracted by shiny objects and lose my concentration. I had to find an alternate method.
• Veering to the right or left. This has only happened once. I kept veering to the left, as if the road was tilted. I tried to move to the center of the road to counteract any slope, only to find the road was slopeless but I kept right on veering until finally about 2 blocks from home, I gave up and asked my wife to come and pick me up. That is the only time PD has really "got" to me and made me aware that I might never be able to control my body at some point in the future.

But don't despair. I have found a solution to all 3 problems - trekking poles. I use only one on my right side. It keeps me upright (no toe dragging or festination). It keeps me steady (no veering) and I can use it to jab the ground in front of me if I feel a fall coming on. Good stuff, but I still would rather not have to do this; however, looking back isn't going to help, so I will just keep on moving forward.......slowly, of course