• Parkinson’s Awareness Month 2015

    We are home from our extended beach stay and, while we are missing the beach, it is spring time here in Eastern Tennessee and the flowering trees and bushes are beautiful, the grass is green and the daffodils and tulips are in full bloom.

    April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and there have been many excellent posts by the Parkinson’s bloggers that I follow including one by Corey King who blogs about his journey with early onset Parkinson’s Disease.  His latest post, Acts of Kindness, talks about this being his sixth Parkinson’s Awareness Month and touches on our desire for a cure and how long it will take for FDA approval even if a cure was found today.  And then he says this about awareness:

     “Awareness is valuable when it is followed by action. So, for me, this April and every April to follow until my last April will be Parkinson’s Action Month. If you’re inclined (and I suspect you might be, if you read this blog regularly), be aware, and ACT on your awareness. Walk or run in support of research, and form a team or obtain sponsors. Comfort a friend who needs it, and instead of saying “let me know if you need anything,” ask, “Can I bring you dinner on Thursday? There’s a new exhibit at the McNay – wanna go with me on Saturday?” Learn and be aware; then teach. Then, come together and act.

    Money and research is important, but connectedness and community is just as important. Money and research will eventually enable us to find a cure. And our connectedness will help us get through this night, and the next. The American Parkinson’s Disease Association says it very elegantly – their stated mission is to “ease the burden and find the cure.” We may not be close to a cure for PD; on the other hand, there may be one discovered tonight. In the US alone, however, there are more than 1 million people with PD that have to get out of bed tomorrow, and use the gift of life as well as we can. We can’t rely solely on the hope for a cure, but while we anticipate one, perhaps we can rely on each other, and on you.”

     I found Corey’s thoughts on awareness to be right on target and in line with what we have learned in the last two years: we are a community and we need to stay connected and we need to support each other.  So we will continue our efforts to find volunteers for clinical trials, to advocate for patient involvement in the research process, to attend our local support groups and to reach out to other PwP’s via this blog and as Trial Finder Ambassadors because, as Corey states at the end of his post:

    “… if we can ease the burden, maybe we can make the road to a cure easier to walk.”

    You can read Corey’s entire post here at his blog The Crooked Path .

    On April 25th PK Hope is Alive support group will hold a local Parkinson’s Unity Walk in support of the national Parkinson’s Unity Walk held the same day in Central Park.  The great thing about this event is 100% of the proceeds go to Parkinson’s research funded by seven major U. S. Parkinson’s organizations.  Mara and I will be walking in the local event and will also provide an information table for the Michael J Fox Foundation Trial Finder, our first event as Fox Trial Finder Ambassadors. And we have been asked to make some opening remarks before the walk starts! If you are in the Eastern Tennessee area we would love it if you can join us and other PwP’s and their families and friends for a relaxing 1.2 mile walk around Bissel Park in Oak Ridge.  More information about the local event can be found here.  If you are unable to attend but would like to support us and Parkinson’s research you can make an online donation here.

    We are working to keep up the exercise level we established at the beach and I am completing a review of the various exercise options available for PwP’s and hope to have that done by the next post.  In the meantime don’t forget to sign up for Fox Trial Finder and Fox Insight and help advance Parkinson’s research.

     

    “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

  • Dancing and Singing at the Beach!

    It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I know everyone is waiting for an update from the beach 🙂 As I mentioned in the last post we were planning a Kripalu mini-reunion with Joel and Melisa and Marcia and Erwin and we were able to get together for lunch and then a nice visit while sitting on the beach.  As Marcia said later, “..it felt like connecting with very close family.” We all caught up on what has happened since October 2013 which, of course, included what medications we were taking, comparing notes on doctor visits, etc.  Marcia and Erwin along with another couple from our Kripalu visit are staging the first Pocono FoxTrot 5K for Parkinson’s with the proceeds going to the Michael J Fox Foundation.  If you are going to be in the Pocono’s area June 20th, you can sign up for the 5K run/walk, the 1 mile community walk or the Kids 1 mile run/walk at this link.
     

    A few days later, we attended our second Parkinson’s Cafe event, a backstage tour of the Sarasota Ballet.  This tour included a chance to watch the ballet master conduct training for about 30 cast members and students which was fascinating, they just flew across the room executing jumps and turns like they had wings!After the tour, we participated in a PD in Motion class, a dance/exercise class for PD patients which is conducted every week by the Neuro Challenge Foundation here in Sarasota. The program was started in NYC and has expanded nationwide.  As you can see, most of the exercises were done sitting down and involved moving legs, arms, and torso.  We really enjoyed it and we attended the next class and will catch a couple more before we leave the beach.

    And this week we attended a choral singing class, also sponsored by the Neuro Challenge Foundation.  Called the Off Key Choir about 45-50 of us sang some Irish tunes since it was St Patrick’s day, and, by the end we did it in 4 part harmony! This was a great way to learn breathing and speech techniques to help with the soft voice of PwP.  It was great fun and we are happy Merrily and Robert Manthey told us about it and invited us to attend.

     
    We met Merrily at the Parkinson’s Cafe event and she told us how a year ago, she was in a wheelchair but no longer needs it after participating in the exercise programs provided by the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Healthfit Gym.  In fact her story was featured in the February 2015 edition of Sarasota Magazine.  Merrily is an outstanding example of how exercise can help fight PD.  Mara and I are convinced that increasing my exercise time has reduced my symptoms and I’m looking at other exercise programs that might provide additional benefit, you can expect to hear more about that project in the next post.
     
    We also had a nice visit with Tom and Marilyn, our friends from Colorado, the weather was great and we got in our long walks every morning and beach time every afternoon and took in a play at the Aslo Theater.  Good Times, Good Times!
     
    Recently Sage Bionetworks announced an app called mPower, as part of the Apple iPhone Research Kit.  Currently only available for the iPhone, mPower will gather information daily from users which will feed into a database for analysis.  At the same time the Michael J Fox Foundation announced Fox Insight, an online clinical trial for both PwP’s and those without PD who will complete a series of surveys every 90 days regarding their health, symptoms, medications, etc. You can link it to your Fox Trial Finder profile during the sign up process and soon you will also be able to  link to the mPower app information.  It is easy to enroll and takes only about 20 – 30 minutes to complete the surveys plus you can print a  report of the results to take along on Doctor visits.
     
    Until next time..oh wait I forgot to remind you to sign up for Fox Trial Finder and now Fox Insight!
     
     “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

  • Partners in Parkinson’s – The Sequel

    This week we attended the Partners in Parkinson’s event in Fort Lauderdale, FL sponsored by Michael J Fox Foundation & AbbVie .  We attended this event in Atlanta last year and came away with new information and new friends as reported in a previous post, On the Road Again.  Since we were in Florida, we thought we would attend the Ft Lauderdale event to find out what’s new, make some new friends, and catch up with Claudia Marshall who heads up the Fox Trial Finder (FTF) Ambassador program and get some pointers on our new roles as FTF Ambassadors. 
     
    This year’s event followed the same format at last year with the morning panel sessions covering:
     
    • The Many Faces of Parkinson’s Disease – Moderator Dave Iverson and the four panelists explored how their lives have changed since their PD diagnoses. Each of the panelists discussed how they approached telling family, friends and coworkers, and where they turned for more information about PD, among other topics.
    • Seeing a Movement Disorder Specialist: What to Know, Ask and Expect – This panel included Bob Harmon and his wife Cecily.  Bob is also a FTF Ambassador whom I met at the Sarasota meeting a few weeks ago. They were interviewed by Dr Stuart Isaacson, a local Movement Disorder Specialist.  It was a great session with Dr Isaacson asking Bob a series of questions about his symptoms just as if it was a real appointment. When Bob indicated that mornings are difficult as he takes his last dose of medications at 9pm,  Dr Isaacson recommended a change to the timing of his medications to help alleviate the problem.  They also discussed acting out of dreams, bladder urgency and other non motor symptoms.  After each question Dr Isaacson offered suggestions for new medication or timing of medication or other solutions Bob could take to reduce the impact of the symptom. He even conducted the usual tests like tapping feet and fingers and watching him walk across the stage. And like the speakers at the Sarasota meeting, Dr Isaacson also reinforced the need for regular exercise.  Once again, this was great example of why you should see a Movement Disorder Specialist if at all possible.
    • Parkinson’s Research: The Road Ahead – Moderator Dave Iverson and the panel discussed the new drugs recently  released (Rytary, the extended release levodopa and Duopa, the intestinal gel levodopa), plus what’s coming up such as an inhaler to provide dopamine quickly, new advancements in DBS, and genetic research among other topics. They also pointed out that recent research has shown that regular exercise is beneficial and slows down the progression of PD.
    The afternoon sessions included the breakout sessions:
    • Living Well with Parkinson’s – conducted by The Davis Phinney Foundation which provides a holistic approach based on exercise and diet that provides lifelong benefits.
    • Building Connections with Family, Friends and Community –  moderated by Dave Iverson, the panelists in this session discussed personal relationships, how they deal with PD and what they have done to promote awareness about PD. 
    • I’m Still Wondering About – an opportunity to ask the experts questions that weren’t covered during the morning sessions.
    Once again, this was an extremely informative event that presented timely information to an audience hungry to learn more about PD. 
    The resource fair provided opportunities for participants to meet with local south Florida representatives of the NPF, PAN, and PDF along with MJF and to meet with local providers of PD related medical care such as BIG and LOUD.  And we met with Claudia and had an opportunity to further discuss the FTF Ambassador program and watch the FTF Ambassadors  in action as many attendee’s stopped by their table for information about FTF.
     
    As happened at the last event, we added several new members to our ‘world wide’ support group. One of our table mates grew up in Colorado so in addition to comparing notes about our PD, we discussed all things Colorado. Another table mate had just moved to Florida to help care for his father who has PD and he was very interested in all of the information we received during each session. 
     
    We also ran into a couple we had met at Kripalu in October, 2013, Marcia and Erwin Guberman.  They have been visiting in Florida for several weeks and will be in the Sarasota area this weekend so we hope to hold a mini-reunion with them and Melissa Wenig and Joel Gordon our Sarasota friends who we also met at Kripalu.  And what would a meeting be without seeing Bill Wilkerson from our Atlanta panel, it seems he follows us everywhere :).  We congratulated him on being recently named this year’s recipient of the Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award which he will receive at the National Parkinson’s Unity Walk in April in New York City. 
     
    It was a great event (again) and we highly recommend (again) attending a Partner’s in Parkinson’s event if one is held near you. You can check the 2015 locations and register on the PIP Site.  
     
    Next week we will attend another Parkinson’s Cafe event at the Sarasota Ballet and we have guests coming from Colorado for some beach time.  Until next time, if you haven’t signed up for Fox Trial Finder you can do it here and if you have signed up take time to check your trial matches or update your profile at the same link. 
     
    “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

IT IS WHAT IT IS!

Increasing the Exercise Routine

Our first week at the beach is already over. 🙁 Last Saturday we attended the Parkinson’s Symposium sponsored by The Neuro Challenge Foundation and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. This is an annual event with 500+ attendees and included talks by recognized PD experts followed by a Q & A session afterwards. In between the talks we did two mini exercise sessions which included some voice exercises from the Loud portion of the Big and Loud program. We were joined at the meeting by Joel and Melissa whom we first met at Kripalu and then again here at the beach last year.
At the meeting we met Brad and Lynn Schramek who founded the Parkinson’s Cafe for the purpose of providing social, cultural and intellectual interaction for people with Parkinson’s disease and their families. This years events include a visit to the Asolo Repertory Theatre and a visit to the Sarasota Ballet. Both agendas look interesting so we have signed up to attend them both.
This week NPR (among others) talked about the benefits of exercise for Parkinson’s and so did all of the speakers at the Symposium. Since we arrived we have upped our exercise routine to include at least an hour walking plus Qi Gong and Tai Chi.  During my recent Doctor visit, we discussed my lack of arm swing while walking and he suggested using walking poles to improve my posture and arm swing while walking. So this week I took delivery of a pair of Green Zen Nordic walking poles from York Nordic and they definitely help with the arm swing, posture and pace.  I also started the Sinemet (Cardidopa/levodopa) at the beginning of the week and
I have noticed reduced rigidity and shuffle along with the  improved walk times over last
year’s beach visits.
Also this week we have signed on to be Fox Trial Finder Ambassadors, which I’m sure comes as a surprise to regular readers 🙂 We are looking forward to helping spread the word about the importance of participating in clinical trials at support groups, events, informal meetings, and any other opportunities we get, like this blog.
This weekend, our granddaughters (oh and their parents) arrive from Seattle for a week of beach fun so I’m thinking it will be another fun and busy week!  Thanks for reading.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Other Posts

IT IS WHAT IT IS!

Increasing the Exercise Routine

Our first week at the beach is already over. 🙁 Last Saturday we attended the Parkinson’s Symposium sponsored by The Neuro Challenge Foundation and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. This is an annual event with 500+ attendees and included talks by recognized PD experts followed by a Q & A session afterwards. In between the talks we did two mini exercise sessions which included some voice exercises from the Loud portion of the Big and Loud program. We were joined at the meeting by Joel and Melissa whom we first met at Kripalu and then again here at the beach last year.
At the meeting we met Brad and Lynn Schramek who founded the Parkinson’s Cafe for the purpose of providing social, cultural and intellectual interaction for people with Parkinson’s disease and their families. This years events include a visit to the Asolo Repertory Theatre and a visit to the Sarasota Ballet. Both agendas look interesting so we have signed up to attend them both.
This week NPR (among others) talked about the benefits of exercise for Parkinson’s and so did all of the speakers at the Symposium. Since we arrived we have upped our exercise routine to include at least an hour walking plus Qi Gong and Tai Chi.  During my recent Doctor visit, we discussed my lack of arm swing while walking and he suggested using walking poles to improve my posture and arm swing while walking. So this week I took delivery of a pair of Green Zen Nordic walking poles from York Nordic and they definitely help with the arm swing, posture and pace.  I also started the Sinemet (Cardidopa/levodopa) at the beginning of the week and
I have noticed reduced rigidity and shuffle along with the  improved walk times over last
year’s beach visits.
Also this week we have signed on to be Fox Trial Finder Ambassadors, which I’m sure comes as a surprise to regular readers 🙂 We are looking forward to helping spread the word about the importance of participating in clinical trials at support groups, events, informal meetings, and any other opportunities we get, like this blog.
This weekend, our granddaughters (oh and their parents) arrive from Seattle for a week of beach fun so I’m thinking it will be another fun and busy week!  Thanks for reading.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Other Posts

Increasing the Exercise Routine

Written by

Tom Eckhardt

in

Our first week at the beach is already over. 🙁 Last Saturday we attended the Parkinson’s Symposium sponsored by The Neuro Challenge Foundation and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. This is an annual event with 500+ attendees and included talks by recognized PD experts followed by a Q & A session afterwards. In between the talks we did two mini exercise sessions which included some voice exercises from the Loud portion of the Big and Loud program. We were joined at the meeting by Joel and Melissa whom we first met at Kripalu and then again here at the beach last year.
At the meeting we met Brad and Lynn Schramek who founded the Parkinson’s Cafe for the purpose of providing social, cultural and intellectual interaction for people with Parkinson’s disease and their families. This years events include a visit to the Asolo Repertory Theatre and a visit to the Sarasota Ballet. Both agendas look interesting so we have signed up to attend them both.
This week NPR (among others) talked about the benefits of exercise for Parkinson’s and so did all of the speakers at the Symposium. Since we arrived we have upped our exercise routine to include at least an hour walking plus Qi Gong and Tai Chi.  During my recent Doctor visit, we discussed my lack of arm swing while walking and he suggested using walking poles to improve my posture and arm swing while walking. So this week I took delivery of a pair of Green Zen Nordic walking poles from York Nordic and they definitely help with the arm swing, posture and pace.  I also started the Sinemet (Cardidopa/levodopa) at the beginning of the week and
I have noticed reduced rigidity and shuffle along with the  improved walk times over last
year’s beach visits.
Also this week we have signed on to be Fox Trial Finder Ambassadors, which I’m sure comes as a surprise to regular readers 🙂 We are looking forward to helping spread the word about the importance of participating in clinical trials at support groups, events, informal meetings, and any other opportunities we get, like this blog.
This weekend, our granddaughters (oh and their parents) arrive from Seattle for a week of beach fun so I’m thinking it will be another fun and busy week!  Thanks for reading.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

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