Chapter 194 - The Elephant in the Room

Her experiment with taking extra Madopar HBS had an unwanted side effect - she began seeing Blue Elephants, things with big heads yet without trunks, which puzzled her but they were still "elephants" in her mind. If they had been pink I may have considered hiding some medicinal bottles I have. So back to 4 doses of 2xMadopar each day. Even so, she says she continues to see "mice" flitting around the edges of rooms but they have been there for ages; she has learned to live with them.

Pains in her lower legs continue although seemingly less severe. At times she asks for 5 minutes on the tread mill for relief and for mobility. She may shuffle to the tread mill yet almost strides away afterwards. I found a YouTube clip describing "forced" exercise on a tandem exercise bike on which the PD patient is on the rear seat and a trainer sets the pace seated at the front. The patient seems to benefit from being forced to keep pace. If there is a benefit from that, then I expect the treadmill, running at a set pace, forces the patient as well. And the treadmill does not require any effort on my part (other than being nearby for safety), although I'm sure that I would benefit as well.

She has had one more session with physio K since our return from our trip. There was to be another last Thursday but K cancelled that for Friday, then that time conflicted with the after-effects of an appointment of mine, so she had to cancel by leaving a message on K's phone, so I doubt there will be another session unless her pain becomes extreme. K has some things to learn on her way to becoming a PD nurse -in attempting to arrange an appointment with K she suggested 12 noon, and when I said "That's when she takes her meds", K replied "How about 12:10?" in a puzzled voice, so she obviously is unaware of kick-in times.

We have been Wii Fitting for over a year now, in excess of 400 days!! After much perseverance she is able to complete some 30 spins on the "Hula Hoop" which is quite an achievement after being unable to spin more than 2 or 3, if at all, in the early days.

She has done a couple of commercial embroideries, intended for some planned quilting. Working up gradually.

A couple of years ago I bought her a Cherry brand keyboard with a small track ball included to be used with her lap top. Even after a warranty upgrade on the trackball it was still not very reliable. When I searched for a full sized trackball there seemed to be none available. Until last week when I searched again at City Software to discover they had a Kensington Slimblade Trackball which I promptly ordered. Fantastic for her! The ball is a little over 50mm in diameter. Just what every Parky or person with finger/hand dexterity problems needs to be able to cope with the difficulties of using a conventional mouse. I also bought a full sized keyboard for her as well.

Chapter 193 - Holiday from Pain

Well, mostly. There seems to be two types of pain - one very sharp mostly in the lower legs now; the other duller muscle pain. Unsure whether we would venture away in the van, I washed it & readied it for a trip to South of the Border, across the creek from My Old Home Town. So on the Wednesday two weeks ago off we went. She travelled well so we booked in for a week at the van park I checked out a few weeks earlier, & what clinched the decision was the chance to sign up for a wireless connection for $55 for a year of 10 hours each month! We will never take full advantage of the deal but it was too good to pass up & much cheaper & faster than connecting through the mobile phone.

We were able to place the van at the very end of the park adjacent to the dump point and miles from the ablution block. She made full use of our on-board facilities and I had no problems to empty the cassette. With no particular plans, other than a small Sunday evening gathering with some of my rellies, we spent a lot of time simply sitting in the sunshine, although we did visit some other relatives and friends, but only when she did not protest. One of my goals was to type the story of my maternal ancestry. That was jeopardised when my lap top's power supply failed so I was forced to buy a discounted discontinued model from Hardly Normals. At the end of the first week she was prepared to stay another week - so we did!

She made no complaints about her bed in the van. Whenever she was in the loo she kept the door open and that minimised her claustrophobic problems although she found that she needed to look out of the doorway, especially as she exited the space. She had little problem showering although several times I needed to towel her back.

Most mornings we completed our Wii exercises. Occasionally we walked around the van park and once along the street. Although we had packed her collapsible walker, she had no wish to use it.

South of the Border has round-abouts all over the place. It was difficult to drive between points A & B without having to negotiate several. Whenever she sees a round-about, she grasps the grab bar on the dash and the grab handle above the door and holds so tightly that her hands are white, so if there are a series of round-abouts every intersection her hands cramp in pain. Her fear is quite irrational to me. She behaves the same way whenever I drive closer than several car lengths from the vehicle in front. So now that most of the highway south is 4 lanes her travelling is almost relaxed.

I had not mentioned that she volunteered to take part in an exercise trial to determine the relationship between falls & exercise in PD patients, conducted by a group from Big Smoke Uni. In the week before we left on the van trip a physio spent most of an afternoon evaluating her, using some interesting tests. I'm not sure whether she was disappointed that she has been chosen as one of the control group, not required to do any special exercises, just to continue with her current regime. She needs to keep a diary, to regularly report any incidents and will be re-evaluated in 6 months time.

She had another session with K last Thursday, the day following our return. I have a wog so I was not present. Once again, the sharp pains have been alleviated but she complains of resulting muscle aches. She wonders whether she should keep the next appointment in a fortnight.

She doubts that the Madopar is as effective as the Sinemet CR, so in between her 2 Madopar HBS SR at 0600, 1200 and 1800 she now takes one extra Madopar HBS SR. Too early yet to say what benefit this is.

She has bought on-line some embroidery designs to apply to some baby quilts she intends to make for some expectant nieces. A good motivational sign.