Eating

I'm getting lazy with the use of my right hand, and I'm starting to eat left-handed more often. I need to focus on "getting through it". I wouldn't want my arm to fall off :-)

New links - from Monica

I got a few new links today. Thanks Monica!

See the "added 20090717" tab to see what's new.

She also sent this link, not specific to Parkinsons; www.emofree.com

Support groups

Until Wednesday, my primary source of support from other PD patients came from patientslikeme.com

It was good to meet other patients face-to-face and to hear their stories.

Some of the great points I got;

• we all have the same disease
• it affects each of us differently, progresses at a different pace, and is treated differently for each of us
• only really nice people get Parkinson's disease :-)

I was inspired to take part in the SuperWalk. I'm looking forward to participating.

Parkinson's-related web pages

I was given a big chunk of these by a PD caregiver (thanks Susan for this list). I will add to the list as I find more.

Follow this link to view the list.

Note, the list is just about everything I've found so far on Parkinson's; Some I agree with, some I disagree with, and some I find "hokey".

ESC

Being a geek, the first thing I think of is the 'escape' key, but - that's not what this is referring to.

It's Embryonic Stem Cell research.

Since I've been diagnosed, I've been reading all I can about Parkinsons disease. That includes blogs from people with Parkinsons (referred to as PWPs). I read this posting; "I Have Parkinson's Disease - Why Are State Legislators Trying to Withhold ESC Research?" and I felt compelled to comment. The comments are moderated, and I neglected to keep a copy of my comments in case they didn't get published. Of course, they didn't get published.

I shouldn't be surprised. If someone submits a comment here that I find offensive, I'll decline to publish it. That's my right. This is my blog.

I still want to comment on the article though, and I have other rights. I have the right to publish my opinion here.

So I will.

Here's my stand on ESC research;

Life begins at conception.
An 'embryo' is a human life, and should be protected as such.
The ESC term is just a way of 'sanitizing' what's really happening; an unwanted human life is destroyed for research.

I would rather die without being cured of Parkinsons than be cured at the expense of another life. I'll have to be careful in the future which treatments I will allow to be used on me.

Judi and I watched the John Travolta movie "Phenomenom" recently. The end of the movie has a related sub-plot; the main character is going to die within days, and doctors ask for permission to research his brain while he's still alive. The potential good for mankind is enormous; the doctors would learn a great deal about the operation of the brain. And the patient would die. When the character refuses, the doctor goes to a judge and has him declared incompetent.

The character ends up escaping, and dies "at home", on his own terms.

We need to ensure that we make the same decisions for embryos, instead of making decisions for 'the good of mankind'

Exercise tactic change

I'm looking at all the exercise I've done so far as a warmup.

I gave blood on Thursday so I didn't do pushups on Friday, and ended up not doing any exercise. Friday I was reading an article I found on "patientslikeme" that talked about good symptom relief after vigorous exercise (80-90rpm on a bicycle). This morning I tried pushing very hard for one mile of biking. I did a 2:20 km pace rather than the 3:45 I had been doing. It was hard and I had to slow down a couple of times. I'm going to try adding to the distance daily. I tried to increase the pace on my walk too, but only managed a 12 minute / km pace - about the same as I've been doing.

I want to get to the point where I can notice the symptom relief mentioned in this article.

Starting to exercise

I've actually been "warming up" for about a month and a half, trying to work my way up and develop good, consistent habits.

Now, I've found a place called runningahead.com to record biking and running (even though I just walk). I love to record my results, so the site is a good resource for me.

I'm noticing more and more how my right arm doesn't swing while I walk. I'm trying to increase my walking pace, but I'm finding that I tend to settle back to a slower pace too easily. It's like having only one arm swinging isn't conducive to a fast pace. I'm going to try using a "hand grip" while I'm walking to give my right arm something to do.