• What Happened to November?

    Wow, here it is December already.  What happened to the month of November?  It seems to have just flown by along with my good intentions to post at least every 2 -3 weeks.  Ah well, you know apathy is another symptom of Parkinson’s 🙂   I started working on a post a couple of weeks ago planning to expand on my last post about the Kripalu Retreat experience but then I discovered that one of the other attendees was working on a similar project and I happily received permission to link to her post instead of reinventing the wheel as we used to say back in the day’s before retirement. So I invite you to follow Barbara’s Ramblings!  Barb has done a great job of summarizing the opening session and the PD101 session with Dr. Houghton and she has laid out the other topics which she plans to also summarize as time permits. Thanks Barb!  (Update 10/1/2017 – Barb’s Blog is no longer being maintained so links removed)

    One thing we have been continuing since the Retreat is listening to Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra, a guided meditation CD from Jennifer Reis, one of the instructors at Kripalu.  We play it almost every night and have found it to promote deep relaxation and sound sleep.

    This month I purchased an indoor bike trainer so I can bike inside this winter.  Bicycling has been shown to be beneficial for PWP so I plan on biking at least 3 days a week.   I haven’t been on a bike in probably 5 years so I have already discovered that my rear end and the seat need to get reacquainted! We are still walking when the weather permits and we dropped our time to 35 minutes recently which is close to where it was last year.

    Speaking of exercise, it’s time to sign up for the 2014 Mary-thon. I mentioned this event in a previous post.  This is a great way to stay motivated to exercise.  You pledge to exercise 30 minutes 5 days a week for 26 weeks.  Running is not required, any form of exercise will do and this year you get a pedometer, access to Hannah’s Gym and weekly emails with your registration and $10 goes to the Project Linus organization which provides blankets to kids in traumatic situations.   Go to www.mary-thon.net for more information and to sign up.

    This month brings my first Physical Therapy appointment, a visit to the Neurologist and, of course, the Christmas Holidays. I plan on another post before the holidays, but just in case we wish you all a Happy and Joyous Holiday Season!

  • Kripalu Wellness Retreat

     
    We have returned from a most informative and relaxing week at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Heath. The Healthy Living Immersion Program conducted in conjunction with the National Parkinson Foundation was absolutely amazing.

     

    This wellness retreat for recently diagnosed PWP’s and their caregivers included sessions with a leading Movement Disorder Specialist, along with sessions about exercise, relationships, nutrition, and resilience led by experts in the field.  And we had various yoga, yoga dance and meditation sessions in addition to the yoga offered daily at Kripalu.  Oh and did I mention the food? We enjoyed wonderful healthy meals every day in the cafeteria all made from organic and local foods.

     

    I will go into more detail in the next post, but first what is Kripalu?  Seems like a simple question but I don’t think you can fully understand the Kripalu experience until you spend some time there.   Here is part of the description from the Kripalu website:
    Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to empowering people and communities to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga. For more than 30 years, Kripalu (kri-PAH-loo) has been teaching skills for optimal living through education for the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. (Emphasis added) It is the largest and most established retreat center for yoga, health, and holistic living in North America.

    While it is definitely a center for the practice of yoga, the key statement is in bold above, “…teaching skills for optimal living for the whole person…”  As you will see throughout this series of posts, we learned much more than the benefit of yoga during our retreat.
    One of the best things we learned during our retreat was we are not alone in dealing with Parkinson’s.  There were about 70 attendees and we and the instructors quickly bonded as a group even though we had never met before and each of us had different symptoms and different issues to deal with.  We left with a strong sense of community, a 5 page list of email addresses and phone numbers for staying in touch and lots of good information and ideas for dealing with Parkinson’s.

    Without a doubt this was the best gift we could have given ourselves at this time in our lives.  I can’t say enough good things about our experience but I’ll try in the next post 🙂

  • Staying Motivated to Exercise

    Here we are showing off our medals (and our Beat Parkinson’s TShirts) from this year’s Mary-thon.  What is a Mary-thon you might ask? The Mary-thon is a 26 week exercise program developed by Mary Balagna, vice president of the National ProjectLinus organization.

    The idea of the Mary-thon is you commit to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week for 26 weeks.  You don’t have to run or walk for 30 minutes you just need to complete 30 minutes of exercise.

    We like to get out and walk for our exercise and I keep track of our time on a simple spreadsheet showing our time for the days of the week for 26 weeks.  Since we usually walk the same path through the park next door, when my times started getting slower this year, it was yet another indicator that something was amiss. On the plus side the times have been going down since I started  the medication which indicates it is helping reduce the rigidity and slowness.

    Mara and I both volunteer for the local Project Linus Chapter. Project Linus is a volunteer organization with chapters across the US that give handmade blankets and afghans to children who are seriously ill or otherwise traumatized. When you sign up for the Mary-thon, a portion of your registration fee goes to Project Linus. In addition you get a work book with all types of exercise routines that will meet the 30 minute time frame and fit your ability level. Mary sends weekly emails with encouraging words to help keep you on track and if  you complete the Mary-thon you receive a medal. .

    Many studies have been completed that show that exercise is essential for People with Parkinson’s (PwP), in fact last week at the Third World Parkinson’s Congress  held in Montreal, Canada one of the bloggers in attendance said that many of the sessions mention exercise as essential to optimizing daily life with Parkinson’s.  But getting motivated to exercise regularly is not easy even if you don’t have Parkinson’s so consider joining next years Mary-thon.  

    Of course 26 weeks is only half the year so you can sign up for the Ultra Mary-thon and do another 26 weeks to finish out the year.  If you are looking for an exercise program which is specifically designed for PwP, check out the new program available from the Davis Phinney Foundation.  The program includes a free DVD with PwP particpants showing you how to do the exercises.  A booklet is also available with the exercise information in written form.  You can request a free DVD at the Davis Phinney Foundation website by clicking here.  We have been trying to do the stretching exercises most mornings and both of us have noticed some improvement in flexibility especially our necks. I look forward to trying the exercises when we are unable to get out for out daily walk.

    We just returned from two nice days at our favorite Smokey Mountain destination, The Dancing Bear Lodge in Townsend, TN.  The plan was to visit the Great Smokey National Park, but congress apparently thought it would be better to shut down the government, including clinical trials, instead. But we had a great relaxing time and two wonderful meals at the lodge.  Next weekend we head up to the retreat at Kripalu Resort in Massachusetts followed by a chance to meet with some friends from New Hampshire.  Should be a great experience!

IT IS WHAT IT IS!

Parkinson’s Awareness Month Is….Almost Over

Yep, here it is almost the end of April and the end of my third year going through Parkinson’s Awareness Month (April 1 – 30), and Parkinson’s Awareness Week (April 18 – 24th) and World Parkinson’s Day (April 11th (also Dr Parkinson’s birthday).  And today I’m wondering shouldn’t every month, week, or day be Parkinson Awareness month, week or day?  I don’t know about you but I’m aware of my Parkinson’s every day, and I don’t think I can get away with ignoring my PD from May to March waiting for the next Parkinson’s Awareness Month.  Changing my social media icons doesn’t stop my Parkinson’s and, if we can’t keep the need for a cure in front of everyone all year, how do we expect to secure funding for necessary research, clinical trials etc. Does Congress only meet one month a year?  OK maybe so, but they did proclaim April National Parkinson’s’ Disease Month this year. Do I only need to write one blog post a year (or 30 posts during the month of April, or 7 posts during Awareness Week?  I don’t think setting aside a month, week or day is the answer!

OK, I’ll take my tongue out of my cheek (or is it put my tongue in?) but I have to say I feel better getting that off my chest.  We can’t pretend that PD doesn’t exist the other 11 months of the year, just like we can’t pretend the same for Autism (also April) or Alzheimer’s (November) or Breast Cancer (October) just to name a few.  We have made tremendous strides in the past 5 years in PD research because we work to gather the support of family, friends and strangers, not just in April but year around.  So, if you didn’t get a chance to change your social icon, or participate in a fundraiser or attend a special PD event this month, you can still do something to help next month, or the month after, or……  Let’s not let up because Parkinson’s Awareness Month is over.

Our East Tennessee Support Group held it’s annual walk on April 16th, it was a beautiful day, we had a great turn out and so far we have raised over $12,500, 100% of which goes to fund research at the seven major Parkinson’s organizations through the National Parkinson’s Unity Walk held April 22, 2016.  The National total so far is over $1.2 million.  I want again to thank all of my supporters this year, together we will find a cure!

Speaking of the seven major organizations, if you haven’t heard, there is some welcome consolidation going on among the these groups.  PAN (Parkinson’s Action Network), primarily our voice on the hill, has become the Policy unit of the Michael J Fox Foundation.  In addition, NPF (National Parkinson’s Foundation) and PDF (Parkinson’s Disease Foundation) have signed an agreement to merge during this year.  I feel like this is a good thing, all of the organizations have similar goals – Find A Cure- and they don’t need to be in competition.

So we are back from Florida and have been attending the Silver Sneakers Program and using the weight equipment at the local gym.  We are shooting to maintain at least one hour per day/5 days per week and we have hit it most weeks so far.

We have rented a town home in Sarasota for a year to give us a chance to experience the area in all seasons, not just when it is cold in TN and warm there.  So we will go down and come back up through out the summer/fall seasons plus spend most of the winter there. No plans at the moment to sell the Lake Cottage, but we keep hearing that too many people wait too long to make a decision about moving and end up somewhere they don’t enjoy.  We know at some point we need a single story residence and we like the PD community in Sarasota and this opportunity popped up the last week of our stay so we jumped on it.  Watch this space for more information about how it all works out.

Couple of last minute items:
1) Partners In Parkinson’s will offer a live video feed on Saturday May 14th.  Click here for more information and to sign up.  A great opportunity if you haven’t been able to attend a local event.

This year the Fourth Triennial World Parkinson’s Congress will be held in Portland OR, September 20 – 23.  Early registration ends July 5th.  Mara and I are attending and serving as volunteers.  Check out the event schedule and register here.

Finally, I saw this great info graphic on  Parkinson’s Journey, a blog I follow by Sherri Woodbridge. This is part of a larger info grapic from the American Parkinson Disease Association.  I think it hits the exercise nail right on the head!

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

Other Posts

IT IS WHAT IT IS!

Parkinson’s Awareness Month Is….Almost Over

Yep, here it is almost the end of April and the end of my third year going through Parkinson’s Awareness Month (April 1 – 30), and Parkinson’s Awareness Week (April 18 – 24th) and World Parkinson’s Day (April 11th (also Dr Parkinson’s birthday).  And today I’m wondering shouldn’t every month, week, or day be Parkinson Awareness month, week or day?  I don’t know about you but I’m aware of my Parkinson’s every day, and I don’t think I can get away with ignoring my PD from May to March waiting for the next Parkinson’s Awareness Month.  Changing my social media icons doesn’t stop my Parkinson’s and, if we can’t keep the need for a cure in front of everyone all year, how do we expect to secure funding for necessary research, clinical trials etc. Does Congress only meet one month a year?  OK maybe so, but they did proclaim April National Parkinson’s’ Disease Month this year. Do I only need to write one blog post a year (or 30 posts during the month of April, or 7 posts during Awareness Week?  I don’t think setting aside a month, week or day is the answer!

OK, I’ll take my tongue out of my cheek (or is it put my tongue in?) but I have to say I feel better getting that off my chest.  We can’t pretend that PD doesn’t exist the other 11 months of the year, just like we can’t pretend the same for Autism (also April) or Alzheimer’s (November) or Breast Cancer (October) just to name a few.  We have made tremendous strides in the past 5 years in PD research because we work to gather the support of family, friends and strangers, not just in April but year around.  So, if you didn’t get a chance to change your social icon, or participate in a fundraiser or attend a special PD event this month, you can still do something to help next month, or the month after, or……  Let’s not let up because Parkinson’s Awareness Month is over.

Our East Tennessee Support Group held it’s annual walk on April 16th, it was a beautiful day, we had a great turn out and so far we have raised over $12,500, 100% of which goes to fund research at the seven major Parkinson’s organizations through the National Parkinson’s Unity Walk held April 22, 2016.  The National total so far is over $1.2 million.  I want again to thank all of my supporters this year, together we will find a cure!

Speaking of the seven major organizations, if you haven’t heard, there is some welcome consolidation going on among the these groups.  PAN (Parkinson’s Action Network), primarily our voice on the hill, has become the Policy unit of the Michael J Fox Foundation.  In addition, NPF (National Parkinson’s Foundation) and PDF (Parkinson’s Disease Foundation) have signed an agreement to merge during this year.  I feel like this is a good thing, all of the organizations have similar goals – Find A Cure- and they don’t need to be in competition.

So we are back from Florida and have been attending the Silver Sneakers Program and using the weight equipment at the local gym.  We are shooting to maintain at least one hour per day/5 days per week and we have hit it most weeks so far.

We have rented a town home in Sarasota for a year to give us a chance to experience the area in all seasons, not just when it is cold in TN and warm there.  So we will go down and come back up through out the summer/fall seasons plus spend most of the winter there. No plans at the moment to sell the Lake Cottage, but we keep hearing that too many people wait too long to make a decision about moving and end up somewhere they don’t enjoy.  We know at some point we need a single story residence and we like the PD community in Sarasota and this opportunity popped up the last week of our stay so we jumped on it.  Watch this space for more information about how it all works out.

Couple of last minute items:
1) Partners In Parkinson’s will offer a live video feed on Saturday May 14th.  Click here for more information and to sign up.  A great opportunity if you haven’t been able to attend a local event.

This year the Fourth Triennial World Parkinson’s Congress will be held in Portland OR, September 20 – 23.  Early registration ends July 5th.  Mara and I are attending and serving as volunteers.  Check out the event schedule and register here.

Finally, I saw this great info graphic on  Parkinson’s Journey, a blog I follow by Sherri Woodbridge. This is part of a larger info grapic from the American Parkinson Disease Association.  I think it hits the exercise nail right on the head!

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

Other Posts

Tag: Partner’s in Parkinson’s

  • Parkinson’s Awareness Month Is….Almost Over

    Parkinson’s Awareness Month Is….Almost Over

    Yep, here it is almost the end of April and the end of my third year going through Parkinson’s Awareness Month (April 1 – 30), and Parkinson’s Awareness Week (April 18 – 24th) and World Parkinson’s Day (April 11th (also Dr Parkinson’s birthday).  And today I’m wondering shouldn’t every month, week, or day be Parkinson Awareness month, week or day?  I don’t know about you but I’m aware of my Parkinson’s every day, and I don’t think I can get away with ignoring my PD from May to March waiting for the next Parkinson’s Awareness Month.  Changing my social media icons doesn’t stop my Parkinson’s and, if we can’t keep the need for a cure in front of everyone all year, how do we expect to secure funding for necessary research, clinical trials etc. Does Congress only meet one month a year?  OK maybe so, but they did proclaim April National Parkinson’s’ Disease Month this year. Do I only need to write one blog post a year (or 30 posts during the month of April, or 7 posts during Awareness Week?  I don’t think setting aside a month, week or day is the answer!

    OK, I’ll take my tongue out of my cheek (or is it put my tongue in?) but I have to say I feel better getting that off my chest.  We can’t pretend that PD doesn’t exist the other 11 months of the year, just like we can’t pretend the same for Autism (also April) or Alzheimer’s (November) or Breast Cancer (October) just to name a few.  We have made tremendous strides in the past 5 years in PD research because we work to gather the support of family, friends and strangers, not just in April but year around.  So, if you didn’t get a chance to change your social icon, or participate in a fundraiser or attend a special PD event this month, you can still do something to help next month, or the month after, or……  Let’s not let up because Parkinson’s Awareness Month is over.

    Our East Tennessee Support Group held it’s annual walk on April 16th, it was a beautiful day, we had a great turn out and so far we have raised over $12,500, 100% of which goes to fund research at the seven major Parkinson’s organizations through the National Parkinson’s Unity Walk held April 22, 2016.  The National total so far is over $1.2 million.  I want again to thank all of my supporters this year, together we will find a cure!

    Speaking of the seven major organizations, if you haven’t heard, there is some welcome consolidation going on among the these groups.  PAN (Parkinson’s Action Network), primarily our voice on the hill, has become the Policy unit of the Michael J Fox Foundation.  In addition, NPF (National Parkinson’s Foundation) and PDF (Parkinson’s Disease Foundation) have signed an agreement to merge during this year.  I feel like this is a good thing, all of the organizations have similar goals – Find A Cure- and they don’t need to be in competition.

    So we are back from Florida and have been attending the Silver Sneakers Program and using the weight equipment at the local gym.  We are shooting to maintain at least one hour per day/5 days per week and we have hit it most weeks so far.

    We have rented a town home in Sarasota for a year to give us a chance to experience the area in all seasons, not just when it is cold in TN and warm there.  So we will go down and come back up through out the summer/fall seasons plus spend most of the winter there. No plans at the moment to sell the Lake Cottage, but we keep hearing that too many people wait too long to make a decision about moving and end up somewhere they don’t enjoy.  We know at some point we need a single story residence and we like the PD community in Sarasota and this opportunity popped up the last week of our stay so we jumped on it.  Watch this space for more information about how it all works out.

    Couple of last minute items:
    1) Partners In Parkinson’s will offer a live video feed on Saturday May 14th.  Click here for more information and to sign up.  A great opportunity if you haven’t been able to attend a local event.

    This year the Fourth Triennial World Parkinson’s Congress will be held in Portland OR, September 20 – 23.  Early registration ends July 5th.  Mara and I are attending and serving as volunteers.  Check out the event schedule and register here.

    Finally, I saw this great info graphic on  Parkinson’s Journey, a blog I follow by Sherri Woodbridge. This is part of a larger info grapic from the American Parkinson Disease Association.  I think it hits the exercise nail right on the head!

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

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by

Medical Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions