<h1>A ghost in a wishing well</h1>

Yesterday, I went with my wife, to the Victory Summit, a gathering of the tribe yearning for a greater understanding of parkinson's. The event was sponsored by the Davis Phinney Foundation, Parkinson's Canada and U-Turn Parkinson's. Winnipeg was the only city in Canada to benefit from its presence. Did I learn anything? Sort of. The three topics that had me wide awake were: Non-Motor Symptoms, Exercise, and Cognitive Challenges, followed by an emotional and interesting presentation about the effect of parkinson's on the family.

The information that "popped out" in each topic included:

(a) Non-Motor: the loss of the sense of smell. For 99% of the time, I cannot smell anything but every so often I catch a whiff of something. For example, two days ago I smelled the soap I was using. It was a fleeting moment but I got excited. Can I regain that sense? What can I do to help regain it? Was that slight trace of freshness just the beginning of a return to the land of the smelling? No answers at the Summit but, from what I know, probably not, but one can dream.

(b) Exercise: When first diagnosed, I was not on any meds. I found that on my morning walks, I would start out with my right hand doing a merengue but about 20 minutes later, all tremor disappeared until about a quarter of an hour after I got to my destination. My conclusion was that exercise had some effect on PD and so began my regimen of 30 minutes to one hour daily of attempting to slow the advance of PD through the use of the treadmill and stationary bike along with some strength training. I was glad to hear an authority confirm my findings. Exercise and then exercise some more was the message.

c) Cognitive: I was happy to hear that word loss is not unusual. apparently, I am not alone when in the middle of a serious talk, I lose a word and have to find a less intelligent synonym. I am grateful to my listener for their patience while I search for any replacement word. It's odd that the condition does not show itself when I write.

d) Parkinson's and a family. The description of the family's acceptance of PD, mirrored my own situation. I felt their emotion. We are not alone. In fact, there are about 6,500 of us in this province, each with a different, but similar, experience.

Of course, there was much more information in each topic, and you can find the presentations on the Davis Phinney website.

Considering everything, it was all worthwhile. I would go again. It didn't make my existing condition and my future any clearer and perhaps it even made it more frightening.

Who cares! I am only dreaming.