Praise GOD from Whom All BLESSINGS Flow!!!

I really am doing great, and it's wonderful to be able to say that. Some days I don't have any abnormal movements at all, and on others I have only tolerable ones. I have been on cloud nine now for a couple of weeks, and it looks like I'm here to stay.

I have noticed that as I become more active and expend more muscle effort that the medicine wears off sooner in the evenings. The Movement Disorder doctor said to call him back in two weeks, and he would discuss raising the daytime dose maybe a half pill at that time. Sounds good to me. He just doesn't want me to zombie out on the Primidone, and I don't want that, either. He mentioned physical therapy to help with the slow walking, but that just does not seem necessary to me. I know how to be safe, and as I feel better I am naturally increasing my physical activity. I'm so used to listening to what my body is telling me that I can judge pretty well when it's time to quit.

My house certainly appreciates the extra attention I have been able to give it lately! There's plenty more to do, though. I have about two years of clutter to wade through. When you feel as bad as I have and as unsteady as I have it's just easier and safer to ignore a lot. Hubby has kept us in good meals and clean clothes, but the "stuff" has piled up.

We celebrated our 44th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. I wrote a long post about it on our Yesterday's Memories blog, so I won't repeat that here. The fantastic thing is that even though I was exhausted at night from all we did during the day the last two days, I feel fine today. My muscles are definitely adjusting to more activity.

So I leave this post with a positive outlook and a heart full of thanksgiving!! Whooopppieeeeeeeeee!!!

Less Computer Time = Getting other things done!

Well, I have pretty much stuck to my intention to stay away from places where PWP are describing their symptoms. I have visited the PLM site a few times, and even made a few comments, but I have been cautious about the type of posts I opened, to avoid reading about anything tremor related. I have not done any research on PD, either, other than to try to find a correlation between heavy steroid use with Parkinson's. This was not for my benefit, but for one of my readers, who asked some interesting questions.

My neck continues to be very stiff and painful, but I can put up with it, knowing I will be getting help next week when I start Physical Therapy.

I am pretty much caught up with posting requests for help on the Plush Memories Lost Toys Search Service, and we are over the Christmas rush on eBay. I still need to put a new post on our Yesterday's Memories blog, and there is always work to do on the BLOG VILLAGE TopList that I run.

So, I have been getting some much needed house clutter cleaning done, but there is plenty more that needs to be done. I would like to have the house straight for the New Year. At least it can start that way LOL.

We did have a great Christmas, seeing all of our family all at once, and enjoying being with our grandchildren. It looks like we actually managed to buy them some things they will enjoy, and that's not easy to do when they hit those preteen and teen years. They all have birthdays right after Christmas, so we will be seeing them again real soon, too.

Hubby gave me a blender for Christmas, so now I can learn how to make Raw Foods Smoothies, something I have been wanting to try for some time now. Jackie, from The Vegan Diet, clued me into The Raw Food Coach, and since we eat a lot of raw foods, anyway, I have been learning as much as I can about what foods are the best for me. I have been doing a lot of research on the high anti-oxidant Super Foods, and we are gradually changing our diet to include lots of them daily.

We have had a lot of fun at our house of late with trying to get our very spoiled (neurotic) inside cat to accept our two outside cats as occasional inside visitors. They are too young to leave outside all night when it is freezing, so we bought a pet cage for them. They don't mind being in it at all, which surprised us, but it sure makes going out of town easier. We keep our inside cat in the hall bathroom when we are gone, and now we can keep the outside cats protected, too. Our only problem is that Miss Queen Fluffy doesn't like having them inside. There have been quite a few fights between Fluffy and Mr. Salt. Miss Pepper stays out of the rough stuff, as she has some kind of nerve damage to one of her hind legs. She is the main reason we decided to bring them in on cold nights and when we are out of town. Fluffy surprised us last night and behaved the whole time they were in the house. Maybe she's finally adjusting to them, I hope.

One of my anonymous readers has given me a clue as to what my diagnosis might be, if it's not Parkinson's. So, I have started doing some research on Dystonia. Also, there was a new post today on PLM discussing Ataxia, and that sounds familiar, too. I already feel better, knowing that there are other conditions that my symptoms seem to fit. It makes me feel less like this is all going to turn out to be psychosomatic. I can't bear the thought that my body has been going through all this due to an emotional problem. With other possibilities in sight, I am in a much better frame of mind than I was yesterday, thank goodness. So, Marion, the glass is looking more and more like it's half full, again.

As always, I appreciate your prayers and concern, and love to hear from you, even if it's just to say HI!

No Such Thing as Status Quo with Me

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with our whole family. Our older daughter and her hubby both love to cook. So they went overboard with the food, but it was important to them, as their first big family meal in their new home. I could tell she was getting all stressed, which is not good for her at all, but I sure was glad I didn't have to have them all at my house. Don't get me wrong, I love being around all of them... but I get way too panicky at the thought of having that big a group all at once.

Plus now, my house is not clean enough for me to feel comfortable entertaining. I have started trying to unclutter some parts of the house, but it took it several years to get in this mess, and it's not going to be clean overnight. Hubby says to just ignore it .... something he seems to be able to do quite well. It bothers me, though. Every time I try to tackle it, I get worn out before I've made a dent! LOL

Anyway, I did have an appointment with my Gastroenterologist this week. I am still having lots of belching and gas, although the elimination difficulties have improved considerably since he put me on the Bentyl. I had read some things on the Internet that made me ask about the Metamucil and Glycolax, as far as were they contributing to the gas problem. I gave him the printout showing the times I was taking my meds, thinking he might see something that I needed to change. He was flabberghasted. He said he had no idea I was taking the Metamucil and Glycolax in the morning - that I should be taking them at night!

He also said the loud belches were from swallowing air. I told him I knew I did that when I took my meds with a big gulp, because I had trouble swallowing them. He suggested I take them in applesauce, instead of water. And .... it works! I do have a little trouble getting the swallow to come, though, thanks to my uncooperative tongue.

My tongue has started some kind of tic. I'm lip licking, or lip sucking, or moving my tongue around, rubbing against my teeth almost constantly now. I mentioned this new quirk in the PLM forum, and one of the Parkies said she had been rubbing the back of her dentures with her tongue for 14 years! She's actually worn a hole in the back side of two of her teeth!

Speaking of the TAP, I am continuing to get 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep each night. My alarm watch is waking me up now to start my meds at 5:00AM. If I could just stay awake later at night, I would change the time of the first meds. But it's all I can do most nights to stay awake until 9. I'm toying with the idea of taking a short afternoon nap, but I will wait awhile longer before I try that, to be sure I have the sleep habit well established.

I am out of the muscle relaxer meds now, but they really didn't help a whole lot to ease the soreness and stiffness in my neck. So I'll be calling my Orthopedist this next week.

I'm still having a lot more tremors than I had before my trip to the ER. The tremor in my right hand is unpredictable, but strikes often and hard. If I stand still for even a few moments, my right leg starts a little dance all by itself, making my whole body bounce, and sometimes now it starts up even when I am sitting down. That was only happening at church before, where I was blaming it on being cold and the seat being uncomfortable. Now it's pretty much a given that if I'm standing, I'm dancing, and if I'm the least bit tired or upset, I'm jiggling as I sit. And walking still feels like I'm on Jello. I'm using the cane all the time when we go somewhere now, except for church. I'm still stubbornly holding out on that, as it puts too much attention on me.

I am going to have to keep track of the times of the day that all these tremors start and stop, so I can tell if it has anything to do with my meds wearing off.

So today, I can give my sleep problems an A, elimination difficulties a B-, stiff and sore neck a D, and tremors a D.

Just When I Start Sleeping Later ... THE TIME CHANGES!!

I can't win for losing! LOL!! I was finally putting together a string of days when I slept until close to 5:00AM, a real accomplishment for me, when the Daylight Savings Time changed on me this morning. So, I've been up since "3:30AM", even though my brain thinks I slept until 4:30AM. I am very pleased that I slept over 7 hours, but I know that I always have a hard time adjusting to these time changes. My appetite gets off schedule, and it has always taken me quite a while to adjust to the different sleep times. Plus, I have my Sleep Study this week. Not the best timing in the world, but it will have to do.

My neck is much better this morning, with pain and stiffness only when I try to turn almost all the way to the sides. I have been very careful with this spasm episode, trying to be very cautious with any stretches, trying to move just to the point of pain, but no further. I have not tried to advance the TAP screw any, since this spasm hit, but I am sleeping with the dental appliance every night.

I have reached an amount of extension of my lower jaw that makes it harder to get the pieces in my mouth. Now, I have to connect the two pieces before they go in my mouth, and then jut my lower jaw forward to meet the mouthpiece. Before, I could put the two halves in separately, and jut my jaw forward to hook them together. I can't unhook them in my mouth any more in the mornings, either. I have to break the seal with them still hooked together. That's not an easy thing to do, as they really fit tight. Of course, it's because they fit my teeth so perfectly that this contraption doesn't hurt, so I'm not complaining.

I exercise my jaws with the chewing pieces every morning while I'm on the computer, and don't even really have to think about it. It's about like chewing gum, really. Then, I also do a series of facial grimacing and stretching exercises for my Parkinson's, to delay the time when I will lose facial expression. The chewing strengthens my jaw, and should actually help delay the "Mask of Parkinson's".

I am in a better mood generally since I started taking the Bentyl, which is an antidepressant as well as an antispasmodic. I'm taking it to soothe my spastic colon, but I'll take any mood improvement I can get! I've managed to get started on several projects that I was previously just overwhelmed by, so that's a good thing. I even managed to put something new on eBay several days in a row, and posted some new requests for people searching for lost loveys on our Plush Memories blog. I'm still way behind on that, though. But I'm completely caught up on the BLOG VILLAGE membership screenings. The house is still chaotic, but that's nothing new. I never was a very good housekeeper, sad to say. I do love it when it's all uncluttered, but I never have been able to find the gumption to keep it that way. All in all, though, I can tell that I'm getting out of the doldrums I've been in for some time, and that's a very good sign!!

Sleep Continues to Be Scarce

The insomnia is continuing to bother me just about like it has been for several months now. I'm still having constipation problems, too. I've been on the Miralax continually now, but when I had to stop taking the Zelnorm, it began to gradually give me trouble again. I've been using the glycerin suppositories regularly now for the last week, but the problem isn't resolved yet. I'm already on a Metamucil capsule every day, besides the Miralax, so I hate to add any more oral medicine for it, for fear it will suddenly work too well. The only other Parkinson's thing that is going on with me right now is a very stiff neck. I have had like a crick in my neck now for several days, from a very tight muscle, that I just don't seem to be able to stretch out or limber up. I'll just have to keep exercising it, and hope for the best.

We had an absolutely glorious drizzly rain all day long yesterday, and I thank God for that. We need about a week of that kind of rain to make a dent in our drought situation, but it's better than nothing. Our grass finally looks like grass again.

They are supposed to come finish the garage tomorrow, but it looks like it might be raining. That's OK. We need the rain worse than we need the garage to be finished. We need to put another coat of water sealer down on the garage floor, anyway, before we start putting stuff in it.

Once we can use the garage for storage, we'll start bringing the furniture that our DD does not want to keep from their house down here. Also, we have stuff in our basement that we can't get to because it's in such a mess. Once we have a place to store it elsewhere, we can start emptying the basement of things and get the good stuff out of our way temporarily. Then we're going to have to make several trips to the dump!! We used to have a landfill dump here in our town, but it was moved to the other side of the county a long time ago.

That wouldn't have been so bad, but our town garbage collection rules call for household garbage only. They won't pick up anything that won't fit in a garbage bag. So, over the years, as things broke, like the washing machine, it just got stuck in the basement. Now we can hardly move down there. Oh, and the nearest Thrift Store won't pick up the appliances, either. There are certain disadvantages to living out in the boonies, that's for sure.

DH won't let me go down in the basement, as he's afraid I will trip over something or lose my balance trying to walk around all the stuff. I really do think he's being over protective, but I've done as he asked, and stayed out of it. I'm itching to get it cleaned out, though, and it bothers me that I can't just go down there and work on it if I want to. As it is, I'm stuck with his idea of when it will get done, and his timetable is a lot slower than mine LOL!! C'est la vie. That's what being married is all about - the give and take of blending two different people's habits and problem solving techniques together. I just need to work on my patience a little more, that's all.

Stiffness

I had trouble yesterday and today with a lot of stiffness when I got up, and it took quite a while for it to go away. I mentioned it to the PT yesterday, and she said I'm probably going to have to try to keep my activity level fairly constant, rather than over-exerting and then taking a few days off, the way most people would. It's just a Parkinson's thing, she says, and not, LOL, my age!

I did get in and out of the car a whole lot last Friday on our Date Day, as we had a lot of Estate Sales available to look at. So, I didn't do much of anything Saturday. Big mistake, evidently. Well, lesson learned. I'll know now that I need to try to keep on with at least my exercises the next day after I get overly tired. One thing's for sure, I have no intention of cutting back on our Estate Sale haunts, as that's an important part of my Quality of Life. We really enjoy each other's company, and I don't want to mess that time up at all, until it becomes absolutely impossible to continue. And I'm hoping that day is a long, long way away!

I'm looking forward to my Orthopedist appointment this Thursday, and I'm hoping he will authorize the MRI of my knee, just so I can know if I have any torn cartilage or not. I have no intention of having arthroscopic surgery on it at this stage of the game, but if it is torn, I'll probably want to find out about a knee brace for times when I might need it. Our basement is one big junk yard, and right now DH is having to do all the cleaning and throwing out by himself, as I don't dare twist anything. The brace would make me braver about squatting, turning, etc., and I'd feel better if I were helping him. After all, it's in that big a mess because I haven't felt like cleaning it out for a long, long time now, long before he retired and took over much of the housework.

So, here's to being even more physically active and feeling more useful!

Continuing to Improve

I am really beginning to see some improvement in my muscle strength in the last few days. No, I'm not ready to run the Marathon, but I am doing my sets of exercises with much less difficulty, and I can see the ease of walking around the track getting better. I did as the PT told me to, and cut back the walking to once around the track, and then I'm finishing up the time with my daily exercises and one set of the Short Form Yang Style Tai Chi that I used to do. My Tai Chi is not in very good form right now, but that will improve as I do it consistently.

I've also started reading a new book that caught my eye at the bookstore Friday, called Chi Walking. I'm impressed so far with it's clear cut instructions on how to walk properly, and there's lots of mental and emotional balancing stuff thrown in for good measure. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to be more efficient in their walking and body mechanics, so don't let any of the "Chi talk" keep you from giving this book a try.

I'm trying really hard to get back some of my old habits of simple things like washing dishes first thing in the morning. I know that sounds trivial to some of you, but having that shiny sink (FlyLady, anyone?)really does motivate me to do more about keeping the rest of my life cleaned up. The clutter is going to take awhile to get rid of, but I'm making a consistent effort on it now. And, of course, the more I do around the house, the more exercise I'm getting.

We've gotten back into selling on eBay pretty much now, with the habit of taking new pictures in the morning and writing descriptions while I watch TV back in place. We keep buying the stuff, so I guess I better start selling again, huh? It is fun to see the bids come in, and we're both big kids about it. It's great to have a hobby that pays for itself, too! LOL

Now, if I could just get myself back in the blogging habit as much as I would like. I apologize for not being around much lately. I changed over to VISTA, bought new versions of some of my software {translation - learn how to do it all over again), and started changing all our sales templates to CSS in the last month, so I have been just a wee tad busy ;). I have managed to keep up with BLOG VILLAGE, though, adding lots of new members and getting the HEALTH Carnival ready for today's unveiling. All in all, though, I'm very please with what I've accomplished lately.

The New Normal is Settling In

We're getting into something of a routine around here, so things are beginning to settle down. DH has been coming up each morning and helping in any way he can, as I get Daddy up and dressed, and we get breakfast going. Hospice has left the wheelchair, a bedside table, an emergency oxygen tank, and one of those oxygen maker machines that plugs in, for when we eventually need it. The bath lady comes out today, too. And his medicine should be coming via FedEx today, also.

We're taking turns going home for a few hours during the day, so I can take care of our Internet business and get packages ready to ship. And I can play with our cat for a bit, too. We live right down the street, so it's not that big a deal.

With all that settling down, my PD symptoms have come under control again, I'm happy to say. My only continuing problem is the lack of sleep, and I've given that long enough to get under control naturally. I'm calling the Neurologist today and see what he can prescribe, as I can't possibly continue at this rate indefinitely.

DH scrubbed and mopped the kitchen floor and brought our good vacuum cleaner up here last night, so we could give the carpets a good cleaning, too. We've got the time to do it, so we'll gradually get the house cleaned up. We've had to neglect it this last year, what with our daughter being in the hospital so much and then me being so sick. Daddy has always vetoed any suggestions at paying someone to come in and clean. Because he's blind, he really doesn't like strangers in the house, and I can understand that.

I'm not sure yet if we'll try to find some part time help to give us a day off or two, since Daddy is so uncomfortable with that. It really depends on how much we need it. We have to take care of ourselves, too, and time away from all this is part of that process.

Life's Unexpected Turns

This has certainly been a strange last couple of days for me. It started with my laptop suddenly getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death over and over, for no apparent reason, right before Thanksgiving. We had all the family coming for dinner, and that meant moving all the eBay stuff out of the guest bedroom, so the grandkids could spend the night. That meant there was no time to work on the ole 'puter, so I had my first taste of computer withdrawal LOL.

I behaved myself, and only worked on the computer in between housework, as I found out very quickly that I have no stamina at all. I used to be able to move all the stuff quite easily, dust and vacuum, and generally straighten the house with no trouble, but not any more. It seemed like I needed to sit down every few minutes and catch my breath. Thank goodness my dear hubby was doing all he could to straighten up the place, and of course he did all the shopping.

Our family helped out a lot on Thanksgiving, instead of just coming and sitting down to the meal, the way they always have before. Our SIL cooked the turkey, and our daughters took care of the deserts, so DH fixed the vegetables, and I didn't have to do anything. It's just as well, as I woke up with those bad stomach cramps and the bloating again on Thanksgiving Day. I spent most of the day with a hot pad on my tummy, ate almost nothing at lunch, but did enjoy having everybody here. Daddy ate almost nothing, and no amount of prodding would get another bite in him. The kids were particularly good this year, as they stayed quiet all day. I asked DD if she had threatened them within an inch of their lives, but she said she hadn't said a thing to them. So they hadn't made Daddy nervous, as they sometimes do with their playful noise, so it didn't make sense that he wasn't eating.

We had a wonderful time enjoying getting to visit with everybody all at once, particularly since our older daughter and her hubby will be with his parents for Christmas this year. Younger daughter and the girls spent the night and didn't go home until Friday afternoon, so we did get on our other laptop and do some Wishlist shopping for the girls, so I'll have some things to pick from that they really want.

After such a pleasant day and a half, even with my stomach cramping, our whole world turned upside down when I got up to Daddy's to fix his supper Friday evening. I found him in the living room floor, conscious, but unable to get out of the floor. He was not hurt, evidently, and doesn't remember falling, but he'd been on the floor most of the day. Mind you, he has one of those "I've Fallen, and I Can't Get Up" buttons in his shirt pockets, but he wouldn't use it! I've never been able to get him to use it. No matter how many times I explain it to him, he thinks it's going to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. But I have it set to call us, and then a neighbor, and only call the EMT's as a last resort.

So I called my DH, and he all but ran up there, and got him out of the floor, by the hardest. He was very weak, as he had not eaten since breakfast, and he's diabetic. We got some juice and a banana into him, and soon realized that he must have had a mild stroke, as his speech was slurred.

So, I've been taking care of him now for the last few days. He seems to be getting stronger, and his appetite is improving. His speech is still slurred and I'm being really careful to feed him thick foods like oatmeal, so he won't choke. I'm not sure what we will do today. It would be extremely difficult to take him to the doctor, and I'm not so sure it would accomplish anything if we did.

As for me, I can really tell the stress has put a strain on my Parkinson's meds. My balance is poor, because I'm really tired, and my back is bothering me from trying to help him stand up. Luckily, I've had lots of practice at care giving, and I do know the correct way to do things, body mechanics wise.

Daddy will be 102 in March, so it's going to be very difficult for him to recover from whatever happened Friday. He wants to stay home, and I want to be able to help him do that if it's at all possible. If I could be fairly certain that taking him to the doctor would get us some Hospice help, then it would be worth the trouble of getting him in and out of the car and the doctor's office.

Sinemet Is Working Again

My legs are almost back to normal again, thank goodness. My GERD is still acting up, though. The nausea is gone, but now that my tummy has been jangled, it just doesn't want to behave itself. My throat is staying sore from the acid backwash, and I'm still getting some acid in my mouth. I'm still on the super blando diet, trying to calm everything down, but no luck so far.

Otherwise, I had a very good day yesterday, and I'm getting off to a pretty good start today. I've been so inactive around the house for the last six months, depending on DH to do just about everything, that I need to get busy and help clean up around here. He's had his hands full taking care of me and the house, and it's been the house that's suffered. We've reached that clutter point where it's hard to clean up, because it's so overwhelming, know what I mean? I hope to have the dining room table all cleared off before he gets back from grocery shopping this morning. That will be a start, anyway.