The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Parkinson's Moving Day walk last Sunday basically completed my first year with the disease.
It certainly has been interesting. Get the theme from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" ready cuz it certainly applies here.
Let's start with some good. In early 2013, a friend invited me to a play called "Side Effects May Include." It was a one man play, written by a former Seinfeld writer, talking about how his life changed after his wife was diagnosed with Parkinson's. I was pretty new at dealing with this and wasn't sure I could handle it emotionally. It turned out pretty good. Gave me a little insight. Helpful and a nice night out.
A few weeks later one of my daughters participated in a walk. I don't know much about this because we haven't talked or even texted about it. I saw her mention it on Facebook. It was just a short post. Very subtle. I liked it that way.
Thanks Karen & Amy. BTW...thanks to so many others for lots of things. We'll leave it at that for today.
Now the bad....UGH....OY!!!
There's so many bad, not horrendous moments that it's hard to pick just one. This happened last week and I haven't written about it...until now.
My biggest problems are balance related. I tend to drift to the left when I walk.
There's an area near where I live that has a sidewalk and no grass between it and the curb. There really isn't a curb. It just leads to the street....and it's a busy one.
I was walking in that area, zoning out a little. Suddenly I noticed I was about to walk in the street. I also noticed an SUV trying to park. It stopped about a foot away from me. Scary? Oh yeah!!!
Now it's on to the ugly. So many choices.
There's the time I had a date and spilled coffee on her white pants.
There's the time I slipped and fell in Whole Foods, knocking over a wine display.
But the winner is the day I saw my primary care doctor, who was just back from his yearly three month vacation in Florida.
During his time away, I was seeing one of his partners. I was comfortable with him and we seemed to be making some progress.
But when he returned, I went back to him and not by choice. I'm not sure why that happened and never got an explanation, but I was already unhappy.
The first visit was a disaster. He wanted to ignore all the work I had done with his partner and just start over. He was also more interested in a small module I had on my lung than in helping with my Parkinson's.
His wife has Parkinson's, so I was always being compared to her. Didn't matter that I'm 20 years younger than her.
It was very frustrating. I walked out of there very angry and emotional. I was very close to breaking down in tears.
I'm walking down the street. I'm upset. Not watching. I veer towards the left and walk into a tree.
I had bruises on my leg and arm. It was not a pretty picture.
Ah yes, but revenge is a dish best served cold. I fired his ass! My insurance let me switch groups and doctors. I found one that I like.
That's a look at year one. What will year two be like? How the Hell do I know? At least I have an idea about what may occur.
Parkinson's like many others, is a disease of adjustments. You figure out ways to handle tricky situations. The episode of walking into the street is handled by walking on the other side of the street. At least I can see the cars coming towards me. Plus, if I start drifting, I walk into a wall instead of a moving car. Pain in the ass? Yes, but safer.
A friend mentioned that for a guy with Parkinson's, I was pretty active last weekend. Well, there are good days and bad days. Even good weeks and bad ones. When I feel good, I go. When I don't, I don't. Pretty much like everyone else.
Year two starts now.