Could this be you ?

New clinic treats patients with reversible condition often mistaken for dementia
CTV National News: Parkinson's imposter

Avis Favaro , Medical Correspondent, CTV National News
Elizabeth St. Philip , CTV News @LizTV Graham Slaughter , CTVNews.ca Writer @grahamslaughter Published Sunday, July 28, 2019 10:00PM EDT

Thousands of people are being misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia and doctors are warning the public.

After multiple misdiagnoses, John Searle tells us how he was able to overcome normal pressure hydrocephalus. CTVNews.ca: 'We got a second chance at life'

Barbara Gaal, wife of John Searle, describes how a revolutionary medical innovation change her and her husband's life.

Thousands of Canadians who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia may actually have a rare “impostor” syndrome that can be reversed with surgery, and a new clinic in Toronto is hoping to identify and treat those patients.

The condition is called normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, and it comes with symptoms deceptively similar to dementia and Parkinson’s: memory impairment, a shuffling gait, difficulty standing and walking.

In some cases, patients with NPH are misdiagnosed and never receive the treatment they need – a devastating and costly oversight for the healthcare system, according to Dr. Alfonso Fasano, staff neurologist with the Movement Disorders Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital.

READ the full article. It is well worth the read.

Also worth reading is this article.

It really doesn't matter if I'm wrong, I'm right, where I belong, I'm right where I belong,

I don't know how accurate this is, but it appears to be legit and if so, I have reached stage 3 and slowly creeping into 4.

Yes, it appears logically I have traversed the line between 2 and 3 on my way to 4.

Well fuck logic. I am almost 10 years into our condition. I have slowed it down. I have worked hard with positive thinking. I have exercised and then I have exercised some more. I have kept the faith my friends and I intend to continue to do so in spite of a few little hitches along the way.

Bumps on the road, if you will.

Unfortunate incidents.

Bad Luck.

Bad luck! Nonsense.

If I had only been a touch more vigilant, I would not have suffered any hurt or indignity.

I believe I told you about falling into the metal trestle, damaging my nose. I was just not paying attention! That is stupidity, not bad luck.

This stupidity can be costly. What I didn't realize was that fall loosened one of my molars that promptly broke. After studying the filling in the missing tooth (it was more metal than enamel) the dentist informed me, "This tooth cannot be saved." and I agreed to extraction, a hard one. It took about an hour. I felt no pain at all! Whoopy! My whoopiness was muted when I saw the bill. This PD is a bottomless money pit. To avoid going broke, check the symptoms in the chart and try to deal with them. Of course, if I had looked at the within chart, I might have taken care not to fall in Stage 3.

Take heed: Sooner or later, all parkies will fall. Be prepared and don't let it get you down.

Remember you have to first fall in order to learn how to fly.

i get by with a little help from my friends

In response  to "Bloody Gravity", one reader, Graham left this comment:


Graham has left a new comment on your post "Bloody Gravity": 

The following techniques may help boost some body control by tricking the neural pathways.

Ultimate Parkinson's Tips - YouTube Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_yYS_caPFc&list=PLA6OMZ8dRKTgUHVjwALkvdwreFfuc1CkW&index=1 

IT IS WELL WORTH WATCHING

Thank you Graham

Bloody Gravity

I have come to the conclusion that I have to stop trying to defy gravity.

Why?

Because gravity always wins.

I used to love running in all seasons with summer the best time and the higher the temperature, the better. I would run for miles, actually hating every step, but loving the feeling of accomplishment. I usually ran 5 days a week for a minimum of 3 miles each day. But, then the falls started. I could trip over the smallest crack or twig. After 4 serious falls, I had to give up running. My feet dragged on the ground. I was shuffling, not running.

Well, I thought, you were the provincial champion in the indoor 1500m race walk, so do that. Ha! I could barely hold the required form for about a mile but soon tired of it and besides, try race walking in the winter! Not possible.

What to do? Forget speed, I decided. Just walk a good distance. I succeeded in doing that for more than a year but then, festination! I found myself plunging forward, involuntarily, and landing face first into whatever landscape I encountered. It only happened three times, once into a snowbank, once into a cement sidewalk and once into the middle of a busy city street (fortunately it was 4 in the morning on a Sunday, not a car in sight). A feeling of falling forward haunted my every walk and I soon threw in the towel.

Finally, I began using nordic ski poles to help keep me steady. They were great, offering a difficult exercise without fear. I still noticed my balance was deteriorating but I felt secure with the poles

I should have known it would not last. This morning I stopped using the sticks at the conclusion of the exercise, carrying them in one hand up the sidewalk to my front door. Big mistake! My forward motion surged and to stop my body (and head) from hitting the cement steps, I reached out and grabbed hold of the metallic, decorative trellis that supports the roof over the steps. My forward motion checked out and diverted it into a sideways motion, slamming my face full into the metal trellis. I knew I would be damaged and I was, cuts to the bridge of my nose and longitudinally down my nose. Not a pretty sight. What exercise can I do now?

Did someone say use a bike, fool. No can do: I cannot balance a bike.

I have had to admit to myself that the reclining bike and the treadmill are the only sane answers, to which I offer the parkie's often,nagging question, "why me"?

Why not you!

A pitiful answer that makes most of us sad. But, at least we won't get hurt and maybe the following quote will cheer up some of you. It doesn't fit into the theme of this essay, but it is worth a laugh.

Ned Flanders: “You were bicycling two abreast?”
Homer Simpson: “I wish. We were bicycling to a lake.”
The Simpsons, ‘Dangerous Curves’ (Episode 2005),

Once upon a time.....

I used to be able to                                                       Now however

1.  smell - roses, coffee, excrement, whatever               Nothing, nada, rein - get the picture?
2.  run - fast and far                                                        Nope - not into suicide!
3. walk - fast                                                                   still can walk - at glacial speed
4.  Jump                                                                          Honestly cannot - I am frozen to the ground
5.  type fast, error free                                                    Nopesd -finagers njump to wkrong kehs
6.  speak with authority                                                  No more - sound like peewee herman
7.  speak without pausing                                               I wish - now I sound like a moron


Just some of the problems I have encountered.  See what you have to look forward to?

Statistics - Russia is back!

Last 7 days

Entry
1. Russia 101
   
2. Canada 34
   
3. United Kingdom 32
   
4. United States 30
   
5. Kenya 3
   
6. South Korea 2
   
7. Portugal 2
   
8. Unknown Region 1
   
9. United Arab Emirates 1
   
10. Germany 1
    

total to date 106,700

She's a lady

I have been somebody else's coach most of my adult life, whether it be grade school teams all the way through to elite high jumpers and heptathletes. During that time I have met some good coaches from all over North America, but one the best is my current boxing coach (JC). Not because she is well known; nor has she world record achievers to brag about. In fact, that makes her an even better coach. Coaches of elite athletes find talented people and make them better, wallowing in their athlete's success and reveling in the coach's contribution. The coach becomes famous as a result of his/her athlete's success.

Remember however, the elite coaches look for athletes with the talent to become elite. They turn away those who "don't have it."

JC doesn't have that luxury.

Let me describe our Rock Steady boxing club. We are men and woman, most of whom are at or over middle age and only a few have a modicum of athletic ability. We are a regular potpourri of ordinary people who have one thing in common....we all have Parkinson's. We have read the countless online articles about PD and we have taken to heart that exercise has the effect of slowing the progress of the disease. JC is a volunteer coach with considerable knowledge of PD and the exercises needed to combat the swiftness of the progress of the disease. Everyone who takes her "classes" benefits from them. She gets no fame or fortune; she does it because she is one of those special people. I needn't say more. You know what I am talking about, a kind heart with a desire to help.

We would be lost without her.

Thank you JC.

I said slow lifting. This isn't a race!!

Sorry. That's just not possible.

It's true! I can't make this stuff up. I'm the star of this story and I wouldn't lie. Sometimes, I might embellish the truth; not often, but sometimes. But not this time. You may think that I sound ridiculous and I would have to agree with that perceived notion, except that the following is the absolute truth.

I can't jump, but I can skip rope.

Do you understand what I am saying? If I stand still and try to hop into the air.......Nothing. My brain is telling my body to jump up, even just a few millimeters, but I remain glued to the ground. There just doesn't seem to be a connection between my brain and whatever muscles I would use if I could jump. It is an odd but somewhat frightening feeling. I can no longer jump! But wait!

I can skip rope.

This is not a joke. If I use a skipping rope in my exercise regime, I am quite successful in jumping. It's true that I usually max out at 20 jumps but hey, that's 20 more than anyone else I know who is at, or near, my age. And the jump is a double jump as the rope passes over my body. (It is a great exercise by the way).

I am baffled. I have no explanation for why I can't jump but I can skip rope. If you have one, I would appreciate hearing it.