Shaken

This (mid-November) seems like a good point to update my PD blog. Since the last posting I've spent a month in Italy (which was grand, two weeks at REGEN and two weeks on holiday in Val Gardena and in the Stubai Valley (in Austria)) and a month mostly in Oxford (which was not so grand). In the Dolomites So why the difference? Aside from the obvious, the weather was better in Italy than in Oxford, the food and wine was better and served at very regular intervals and we were staying in good hotels and were waited on hand and foot, why did 'travelling' time seem better than 'home' time and what's this got to do with Parkinson's anyway? I'm coming to the conclusion that there are two (possibly related) issues.  Firstly, physical health.  I so often feel better when I'm away from Oxford - sometimes (like this autumn) I pick up bugs when I'm travelling and bring them home with me, which means that during the first few days back in Oxford I feel really ...

The story so far. Summer 2021. Fell over a couple of times, noticed a tremor in my right hand. December 2021. Self-diagnosed Parkinson's Disease. April 2022. Diagnosis confirmed. April 2023. First visit to REGEN February 2024. Started taking PD medication.  August 2024 Medications working well. Since the last update I've spent a month travelling in northern Norway (by boat, train and bus) and have spent the last two months in the Shetland house mostly photographing puffins at the south end of the Shetland mainland. The motor symptoms of PD are generally under control. I do feel stiff early in the day until the morning meds have kicked in (I and my PD nurse have a plan to address this), my hand tremor does occasionally interfere with my photography (I can't always press the shutter button as quickly as I'd like to capture action shots) and computer mouse control is sometimes frustrating (don't even mention double-clicking).  The non-motor symptoms are a bit harder t...

 I'm not sure why, but I've been reluctant to out myself as a PWP online. However since 11th April was World Parkinson's Day and I was back in Boario for my third visit, it just seemed like the right time. This is what I posted on Blipfoto (which I shared on Twitter/X and on Facebook) and on Instagram.  Some of you may have spotted that I keep pitching up in a rather picturesque wee Italian spa town in the Val Camonica in Lombardy, and I’ve been a bit vague about why. And since today is World Parkinson’s Day, it seems like the right time to say more. In April 2022 I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, and shortly afterwards (via a friend of a friend) I was told about the European Parkinson Therapy Centre in Boario Terme. My first visit to the Centre (locally called the REGEN Centre) was in April 2023, then again in Autumn 2023 and I’m now back again for some more individual neurotherapy, or pampering as I prefer to describe it. Parkinson’s Disease is the fastest growing...

The annual (well it turns out that this now means every 13 or 14 months) visit to the consultant is a good 'where are we now' event.   Last year I asserted that I didn't think much had changed (consultant thought different!), this year I had to acknowledge that I had been struggling a bit, and a lot of what we talked about were the work arounds I was using to minimise the impact of the symptoms. The punchline was that he thought I'd feel better if I was taking the meds.  I have been resisting the meds, partly because I'm stubborn like that and as least partly because it feels a bit like admitting that I can't cope without the assistance. And my initial reaction was one of feeling defeated.  After a couple of days I did need to concede that I felt significantly less stiff and my mood was improved too. Maybe I should have started taking the pills sooner.

OK, so we're in to Silver Lining territory.    Let's be very clear at the start, I would rather not have Parkinson's Disease and I'll be really chuffed if someone comes up with a way to really slow or even reverse the onset of symptoms. However, at this point I am grateful to PD for giving me the excuse for re-discovering and spending time in northern Italy.  I'm writing this as a distraction from sorting through the photographs I've taken over the last month on the latest iteration of our own Grand Tour. This tour took in London, Paris, Zurich, Boario (for the European Parkinsons Therapy Centre - aka REGEN), Certosa in the Val Senales, Verona, Turin and Nice.   The somewhat eclectic routing was driven by the recent temporary closure of the main railway line between France and Italy, which necessitated a detour north (via Zurich) in one direction and south (via Nice) in the other direction.   The plus side (again a Silver Lining) is that it the train routes gave...

OK - there isn't yet a cure for Parkinson's.   But every Parkinson's sufferer (still not happy to self-describe as a 'Parkie') has a different set of symptoms and comes up with a different set of strategies to cope with these symptoms.  Over the last couple of months I've been based in our Shetland house.  The first few weeks were really still recovering from my Italian COVID episode, but having done that it has been possible to settle into a daily routine.   This routine has been intended to achieve two things, firstly to fit in all the exercise that seems to help with minimising the impact (and development) of Parkinson's symptoms and secondly having a routine (that I'm controlling) really helps in managing the stress which seems to be one of my current vulnerabilities. So, at the moment, rule one is a Quendale Beach walk - to shake the stiffness out of my legs and the cobwebs out of my head - which can range between 2 and 7 km.  And rule two is (if I...