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.

Movement Disorders clinic - first visit

First off, I had a friend from church along for the ride. It was great to have someone to talk with on the way there, and especially to "debrief with" on the way back.

Dr. Jog is the head of the clinic, and he did my evaluation. There's a wide range of tests that he took me through some simple physical tasks;

• follow his finger with just my eyes
• point at his finger and then my nose, back and forth while he moves his finger
• a number of activities with first one hand and then the other, some resistance testing, and some "looseness" testing where he would move my arms while I (attempted to) relaxed
• He observed me walking, recover from being pushed off balance, and demonstrate an activity (blowing up a balloon) that he told me later was to evaluate cognitive ability.
  

Although he said that many of my symptoms were atypical for Parkinsons' (PD), he felt still that a diagnosis of PD was accurate for me. He has evaluated 15,000 patients, and there's no consistent set of symptoms in all people with PD.

He gave me two options;

1. Start taking medication to give me symptom relief. It's my choice, and for me to decide if the symptoms are severe enough that they keep me from having the quality of life I need or prevent me from working.
2. Participate in a study for a drug that may slow down the progression of PD. The subjects are in three groups; patients getting a high dose, a medium dose, and a placebo.
   

There would be no point in being in the study if I felt I would need to exercise option 1 within the next 12 to 18 months. Subjects in the study are patients not taking drugs for symptom relief.

I'll see the doctor in about 3 months (when some of the current stressful situations are over) and let him know whether I feel I can be a part of the study.

A long day with a late lunch

Judi had her liver surgery today. We were at the hospital at 6am. I ate breakfast before we left, then had a butter tart and a granola bar by about 10am. I drank a bottle of juice also.

I expected Judi's surgery to be done by 2pm, and that I would go get lunch when I knew she was out of surgery. I was talking with our pastor while waiting, and I couldn't get my leg to stop shaking. I was feeling pretty hungry, but I really wanted to know Judi was out of surgery. By about 3:45 I knew I really needed something, so I drank a coke. It helped quite a bit.

So, I'm finding that I'm also much more susceptible to shaking when I haven't eaten in too long.

Sometimes it's a few steps back

Generally I've been feeling like my symptoms are progressing forward, always forward. I've been sick with a fever for the last few days, and really noticed how my hand would have a long lasting (I guess 2 to 3 seconds) tremor after I would use my arm.
Today, I'm feeling a lot better (no more chills, etc. from the fever) and I'm feeling much more "relaxed" in my arm, leg, and face.
Maybe because it felt so bad for the past few days, I'm noticing even more when the symptoms take a few steps back.
My hand isn't completely still, but I'm noticing that my leg and face feel much better - and it feels great to have a feeling of "normal" for a while.

Coffee is out

Tuesday night I was up late. Wednesday morning I paid for it, and I was pretty tired driving to work. I had a coffee right away - and promptly paid for that. I was shaking a lot, and it was difficult to type. I was getting a lot of double hits on I and O.

Thursday, I had outplacement training. Just standing talking with people, if my right hand was free it would be shaking. I'd have to rest my hand on a chair or put my hand in my pocket to get it to be still.

The Next Phase of my Career

I received notice today. I am fortunate to have the boss I do; he fought for me to get 3 months notice and he gave me the freedom to search for a job opportunity outside and inside my current employer.

The automotive industry has been unstable for the last few years, and I've managed to dodge this bullet for a long time. Now with the whole economy transitioning, more bullets are flying and it became difficult to justify maintaining resources that don't have a clear impact on improving the bottom line.

I'm going to use this forum to collect everything I've been reading for the past few months on job seeking, personal branding, social networking, etc.

(found this post in my drafts - finally publishing)

Saving Passwords

I've always been against saving passwords, even using my own computer.

Tonight, I changed my mind. Typing passwords has become too much of a bother, as I'm making lots of typos.

Judi and I tried to get some video of my hand shaking while I'm eating, but the shutter speed on the digital camera seems to be too slow to capture it properly. We'll have to try again with better lighting.