Archive for March, 2009
Jennifer’s Birthday
We went to see a movie today. After eating 43 pounds of popcorn and drinking 73 liters of pop I fell asleep. We agreed that it wasn’t a very good movie anyway. It is nice to be able to go out with my daughter who is 44 today.
She is so good to me. She is always sending me home with meals and has put me on a diet. When you have Parkinson’s your appetite is suppose to change. Mine changed -I eat more. I spent about 2 hours in the Orleans mall just walking with my walker and snoozing on the benches.
I found a new book by Michael J. Fox, entitled Always Looking Up: The Adventures Of An Incurable Optimist (ISBN 9781401303389). He is well known actor and he has Parkinson’s. I will probably get it and let you know about it as I read it. Jennifer said he was on the TV this afternoon on the Oprah show. I’ll see if I can get it on my computer.
Helping Hand
I joined a group of disabled folks and was anxious today to get to their marvellous group exercise session from 10:15 to 11:00 AM. It was raining when I drove in and as I got out of the van I fell right into a puddle. As if by magic there was suddenly a gal standing beside me, the rain was pouring down and then her hand appeared and all I had to do was hang on and she pulled me to my feet. I thanked her and she left. I went into my meeting soaked but also warm because of someone’s generosity.
In Memoriam of Phyllis Allcorn
It was seventeen years ago today that I lost my wife, Phyllis, to heart condition after 32 years of wedded bliss. Every once in a while I get a clear picture of her and I hope that there is a Heaven and we will be there together.
Raindance Canada
Today I found a great opportunity to get my book made into a movie. The group known as Raindance Canada is offering to evaluate movie pitches presented to a panel of industry insiders.
You only have two minutes to do this. I think that I will try to do it. I don’t know if it is the medication or not but I have a lot of trouble controlling my feelings. Two minutes; I should be able to handle. I’ll type it out and ask my son John to go and take over if I need him.
New Drugs and Prescription Coverage
Toe seems to be a bit sore today.
I am disappointed in the Parkinson Society. They are always looking for money. It takes forever to contact them. They sent me an announcement regarding a comedy night and I wrote back that I would like to come and maybe share as one who is dealing with it right now. I never got an answer.
I have now been on Rezilect for quite awhile and find it helpful. It apparently helps by providing a passage for the Dopamine. I think it is called a catalyst. It costs me $257 a month. I thought that the Society could assist me with this drug that is not recognized by the government. It makes me wonder about the whole topic of research; what is the point of coming up with new drugs if no one can afford to use them?
Power Chair Destruction Derby
I was telling you about the power chair. Well it is very powerful and so I tried to let it go in the apartment and was doing fine -faster and faster- then I swung out too far and caught my left toe eyeing the corner of the kitchen cabinet – then it happened —yup— I guess the temptation was too much and the big toe decided the time was now.
Wow, did it ever hurt and bleed – I guess these aspirin are thinning the blood because I had Kleenex everywhere. No bandages -oh well infection will set in and I’ll lose my leg. I walked over to my daughter’s house on my walker and sat outside with a bloody sock (I’ll tell you about compression socks later) trying to work up enough nerve to tell her. As usual she washed it and put some lotion on it.
First Days Back Home
Upon arriving back in Ottawa I was invited to a birthday party above the apartment I live in. A little history lesson here, previous to living in this apartment I had tried a mobile home in Perth followed by a few months in a nursing home in Ottawa. Neither worked out so finally I ended up in an apartment below a family of two dogs, three kids, and two adults… it was good to be back amongst the living.
I had lots of emails to look at. I was mostly concerned about information on turning my novel into a movie (by the way I also self published a book). I also got a new power wheelchair that I can use around the apartment. I had my grandson rearrange the furniture as I had already smashed a door with my wheelchair. I now have 1200 square feet to move around in and a nice gas fireplace.
Trip Home, Take #2
I seem to be a bit tired this morning and had trouble getting to breakfast for 6:00 am. I had to take extra “Levadopas” and was soon ready to go. I should mention here that I take six Levodopa pills a day and one Azelect (this medication helps to pave the way for the Levadopa to act). I also take one 81mg Asprin, to prevent any blood clotting, and Vitamin D.
By 9:00 am I took my place in the sci-fi space van and we were off. I ran into a little snow, nothing much, and we were in Belleville by 8:00 pm. Again, as the other days, I felt tired but good about being able to travel. I think I will look into getting a GPS for my van and maybe head down to Myrtle Beach next winter for a longer period of time.
On the Road
We started around 8:45 am and all my baggage was put in the van for me. One thing that I treasure is being alive to take part in all the incredible new inventions such as the roof mounted DVD player. It was like sitting in the middle of a science fiction thriller with the GPS directing the driver, the kids watching movies, while I was consulting the maps.
I was finding that it was hard to talk at this point and being crammed in the van all day was beginning to take its toll. When we stopped everyone checked with me to see how I was doing. Around 8:00 pm we arrived back at our hotel and I just had an egg salad sand which and went straight to bed, feeling rather good about having made the day as well as I did.
Last Full Day in Myrtle Beach
This being the last day I decided to rest up for the trip home. I copied a few more poems from the book I was lent, worked on some puzzles, and managed to snooze the day away. I was a little concerned about the 20 hour trip back. I spent a lot of the time during the day packing and organizing my suitcase and bags.
One thing I’ve learned from Parkinson’s is to always allow lots of time to organize. I find that being alone to do this is best. It’s incredible to me that after seventy-three years it takes so long to do things that would have taken minutes. This is partly because every step that is taken has to be measured. As I pointed out earlier I went to bed around six pm and started my non-Parkinson’s day.
