Boario. Take 2. (November 2023)

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 excuses for overnight stops in London (yes, really), Paris, Zurich, Verona, Turin and Nice. 


Back in Boario

The stay at the REGEN centre (the main reason for the trip) was everything I'd hoped for - and it did confirm my initial view that I should be aiming at two week visits wherever possible.  The two week stay makes it possible to properly settle into the REGEN routine and to get the most from the therapy sessions.

And this time I was able to do the end of stay assessments properly too (the normal routine is to do arrival and departure evaluations) - and I was pleased to learn that the arrival score this time was better than the arrival score last time and the departure score was better than the arrival one.  I'm already getting performance anxiety about the next visit. 

One of the Going Home (we'll pass over what Home actually means) things from REGEN is a commitment to keep up the exercise - and to report in once a month..

This was my mid-November report.

It took a while to get into a regular pattern of exercise but I am now sticking to the pattern of having a brisk walk each morning then a session of either PWR moves or Smoovey exercises plus a 20 (or sometimes 30) minute session on the rowing machine.  I also was able to join the online session yesterday (I intend to do this most weeks).

On the mental side, I’m spending time on ‘brain training’ each day and I’m still learning German and Italian - and I’ve started playing cards and chess again.

Having been so positive about being back at Boario, it felt important to get another visit booked.  REGEN suggest a visit every 6-12 months, so I've booked a short trip back in April (lets see what a one week visit feels like), and then a longer visit in September (which will have some tourist time attached to it).



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