IN CANADA, THERE IS NO IMPEACHMENT POWER

We change premiers ( leader of the party with the most seats in the legislature) only through elections and, guess what.....provincial premiers have a right to call elections whenever they please, so long as the election occurs within at least five years of the last one.

Why is this such a bad thing?  The current premier of Manitoba is Brian Pallister who, inspite of winning the last 2 provincial elections, has the lowest approval rating of any premier in Canada, according to a May online survey by the Angus Reid Institute.  Given his popularity, what are the chances of Pallister calling an election any time soon?  

His grip on the province is somewhat like trumps grip on the southern states.  In fact, he governs using Trump's approach...my way or the highway.  His "policies" stink of a benificial dictator.  

And that is the reason why Manitoba is the "HOT SPOT" in north America for Covid-19.  His approach is if he doesn't like something he will come up with a directive to bring it in line. He has no view of the entire problem, just a reaction to the latest problem without understandings of the ridiculous situations created by his reaction.

For example:

The problem-----the long weekend is approaching and people are going to want to get out of the house and, God forbid, have parties.

His solution----we will forbid non-household people associating (with exceptions) for the duration of the month.  One exception is that one person per household can enter a grocery store.  The absurdity of this "policy" was pointed out by Winnipeg's Mayor, Brian Bowman, who decried that under this restriction, his wife would not be able to go for a go for a jog with a friend but they could shop for groceries at the same time.

 I know many people would be upset but I think the policy should be a complete shut down (except for essentials) for at least 3 weeks with an all-out drive to vaccinate every citizen.

It should be done soon, before the virus mutates into a form that is unaffected by by the vaccine.

Now we hear Pallister has the audacity to blame the Whitehouse for our problems. That is fodder for another entry.

Sick!

What has this got to do with PD?

You figure it out.

 “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

    

STEPPING BACK IN TIME

I am doing fine;  slightly off balance every so often, a few falls but nothing too serious. Things seem to be stable 11 years after diagnosis (and about 3 years before diagnosis) so I thought I would revisit the past when I was less accepting of my dark shadow.

TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2011

Karate Duck

People have told me they are worried about getting parkinson's. Don't be. In Canada, your chances of being a victim of this disease are less than 0.3%, slightly better than your chances of being kicked to death by a duck.

However, your chances of being a victim of PD increase if:

1. you have red hair
2. you are male
3. you are >60
4. you are Amish (in which case, you are probably not reading this)
5. you have a close relative with PD
6. you have suffered a head trauma at some point(s) in your life
7. you are caucasian
8. you are a junkie

There are many other weird and wild statistics, but still, I wouldn't worry about PD - unless your hand is doing a 2-step. Then, go see a doctor.

By the way, if you are a black haired, drinker and smoker, your chances of being a victim are reduced; but, then you have to worry about these little beauties: cirrhosis, emphysema and lung cancer.

Take the advice of Alfred E. Neuman..."What, me worry?"

At last, hope springs eternal

The following are notes I made from a webinar hosted by the American Parkinson's Association ( search "Spotlight on Parkinson's: Searching for ways to stop disease progression"

Direct from the doctor's mouth (Dr. James Richardson, that is).   Does his description of the condition sound familiar:

      "involuntary tremulous motion, lessened muscular power, in parts, not in action, and even when supported, with a propensity to bend the trunk forward and to pass from a walking to a running pace."

THE Speaker, Dr. Standaert, does not mention the 5 stages of PD; rather, he talks of a progression of the condition (see below), a flow chart if you will, in which each "stage" flows into the next.  Symptoms differ from patient to patient and onset of those symptoms, for the most part, can occur at any stage; however there is are symptoms that are most common at each stage.   

Believe it or not,  a patient could have symptoms of Parkinson's without being a member of the PD tribe.  For example, from  the at risk stage(asymptomatic) into the Prodromal there are symptoms, signs, which that indicate the possibility of Parkinson's, such as loss of the sense of  smell (hyposmia), rapid eye movement disorder. a sleep disorder in which the sleeper has vivid dreams and a tendency to act them out, and joining this illustrious list, constipation.

Then following this, there is a stage of early Parkinson's, and this is where we see the typical features – tremor, bradykinesia or slowness of movement, rigidity which is stiffness, and fatigue is another symptom of early Parkinson's disease.

The advanced stage where you see impaired balance and falling, wearing OFF, dyskinesia. memory problems, and experiencing hallucinations.

Possible game changers - you will have to visit the webinar for full and accurate information but I can tease you with the fact that at every stage, scientists are working on procedures to slow down or even stop the progress of the "disease".  It is easy reading and is very uplifting. I have to tell you, it raised my spirits and that's not easy to accomplish.

PSP - BE GLAD YOU HAVE PD

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy "PSP"

 

I have a friend whose husband died from PSP. In all my reading, I had never heard of such a disease.  It is rare, with estimates that between 3- 6 out of 100,000 people will develop PSP.  More men than women are victims  and onset is usually after age 60.

 

PSP is Parkinson's on steroids.

 

PSP victims suffer with problems of physical balance,  eye problems, anger and depression, apathy, problems with speech and swallowing, and movement challenges. 

Sounds a lot like PD, doesn't it, and indeed, it is often misdiagnosed as PD.

 

It is not PD, so stop checking off your symptoms.  PSP progresses more rapidly than PD and rarely responds to PD drugs.  Tremors rarely show in PSP.   

Also, people with PSP show accumulation of the protein tau in affected brain cells, while people with Parkinson’s disease show accumulation of a different protein, called alpha-synuclein.  That ought to convince you that you have PD and not PSP!!!! 

Learn more about this insidious condition 

 <href="https://www.ninds.nih.gov" >PSP</a> 

There's a light, a certain slant of light

I came across Dickinson's poem about a slant of light and what I discerned her topic to be all about life's despair.  It momentarily made me feel a bit lousy (I liked the poem  It rhymed!); but, as I thought it through, her slant of light was a winter light and the poet probably had the blues.

When I awoke this morning, I saw a slant  of light, but it lifted me up.  It was a spring slant and as I lay in bed, I thought of my life having a positive slant.  Sure I have had a tragedy, the death of my wife set me back and I still carry that pain, and then there is living with PD,  followed by the death of 4 good friends.  Such circumstances should floor me and have me wallowing in Dickinson's despair, but it doesn't. I have a family that keeps me high - three kids, four grand children, a daughter and son-in-law all bring me joy and keep me out the pit.  Also adding to my positivity are my brother (his generosity is boundless), his family, my sister and her family and a group called the Shilobrats, particularly those who correspond regularly, almost daily, (www.shilobrats.com), all good friends from my youth.

And lastly, I finally found a partner who got me going on my poetry.  Without his help, I would never have got around to having a book of my poetry published (due out in summer) and that project has kept me focussed on matters other than Dickinsonian slants of light. 

To hell with PD!  I feel relatively good, physically and mentally, right now.

                              "Action is the antidote to despair" - Joan Baez

“All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height.” – Casey Stengel

 Sometimes I feel that Casey Stengel is watching over me.  Instead of avoiding symptoms, he leadeth me into them; you know, just to see what will happen.  I have tested many of the myriad symptoms of the evil PD.  Here are some that I am acquainted with:

tremor - initially only my right hand, now both hands and forearms.  Fortunately, one or all of the drugs I take, keep the tremor still. 

slowness of movement - substantial - the tortoise would have no difficult beating me in a race.

Falls - I've had a few, but then again too few to mention.   3 or 4 doozies!

Festination - every time I stop after moving forward.  Not too bad if there is something to stop me, like a wall or tree.

Freezing - not so much, unless you include jumping where I can't get more than an inch into the air and sometimes not at all.   Ironically, I used to coach high jumpers, good ones!

Muscle cramps - you bet, but I can control the severity

speech problems - Oh yes - reduced volume. monotone  and just to make sure I am upset, word finding difficulties.

Inability to write - in spades.  Even I cannot read the scrawl I produce.

Hallucinations - maxed out - see November 10, 2020 entry         

Right now my disease is in a holding pattern and I dislike thinking about what is to come, but in the famous words of the great Casey Stengal:

        "Never make preditions, especially about the future."

Was it fate or stupidity

Sorry Doug. Do you think your original issue was bad water or dehydration or did dehydration come from going without water from laying on the floor for so long without water? Definitely consider a medical alert fob. Hang in there buddy... you remain our canary in the coal mine and we are grateful for your insights.

This comment was made by a loyal reader in response to "The Walls ...tumbling down" . I do appreciate his input; it is insightful and often causes me to look deeper into myself.  Here is my response to his inquiry:

We are reputed to have the best water in the world, so I doubt "bad" water was involved.  The doctors tell me I was dehydrated so I guess I was.  I thought I did quite well on fluids, but I guess I didn't.  I now take in 64 oz  of water per day and I feel better.  I used to include sugar fluids (mainly coke). I don't think that helped.  I can vouch for the fact that sugar liquids fatten me up and therefor are not suitable replacements for water.

I think lying in one spot for so long caused all the problems but dehydration was a condition precedent.

Something weird happened.  I thought I was hallucinating when the doctor introduced himself as "Hi, I am Doctor Seuss".

Here we go.....was my initial thought but my daughter assured me he really was a doctor with the last name Seuss.  Thank goodness!  The last thing I needed was an hallucination.

I do have a medical alert button, state of the art.  I can't sleep with it on, too uncomfortable.  Invariably, I forget to wear it when I wake up. In fact, I am going to go and get it and put it on right now.

Thanks again

PS - didn't the miners only know there was poison gas in the mine when the canaries died?  But, I get your drift.