For those of you who like to keep track, July 24th – August 6th encompasses several milestones beginning with July 24th which is the 11th anniversary of my PD diagnoses. Yes, it has been 11 years and Mara and I think I am better now that I was then! Certainly I am in better physical shape due to the 5 – 7 days of exercise each week and my symptoms of bradykinesia and other motor symptoms are better because of taking Carbidopa/Levodopa. The fact that I have been able to reduce my Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose (total LD per day from all sources) from 1688 mg to 932 mg over the past 5 years is certainly an indicator that something is working right.

This week we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary with a superb dinner out and a fine bottle of champagne! (I need to add the champagne tradition to the PD anniversary) I wouldn’t be in the shape I am without Mara’s support. She is not only the love of my life and my best friend, she is also my caretaker extraordinaire!

Also this week I will celebrate my 78th birthday ( already have the champagne for this one!)

And on August 6th this blog will be 11 years old, and this will be the first post of 2024! Yep it’s been 16 months since my last post and I have no valid excuse except to blame it on my Parkinson’s Disease non motor symptom of apathy. I have had various ideas or information that I could use to create a post but somehow they never get written. But I am going to make the breakthrough today!

While I have successfully reduced my Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose from 1688 mg to 932 mg per day, I haven’t stopped my PD progression particularly in non-motor symptoms. In addition to apathy, my handwriting is working it’s way to a completely illegible scrawl, my speech continues to get softer (I know, I should be using the Speak Out tools to improve this one) and constipation and drooling have become more prevalent. On the plus side, reducing my Levodopa has reduced my dyskinesia and something I am doing has improved my sleep, often getting 6 – 7 hours per night according to my FitBit:

I wish I knew what I am doing to improve my sleep, I’m pretty sure I could patent it and make a fortune! I don’t follow any of the hints you see like reduce screen time ( I usually get in bed and read on my iPad!) or limit fluid intake before bed, or take melatonin or use CBD/Marijuana. The only thing I have doing different for the past 6 or 7 months is following a version of high dose thiamine therapy or vitamin B1 (HDTT) . I have noticed some improvements from following this therapy and I will discuss the details and process in my next blog post. There, I’ve set myself a task and I will plan to write the next post no later than next week.

Speaking of tasks, I did update the Now What document with recommendations for persons who have been recently diagnosed with PD. You can click here or at the top right to read or print it.

Until then, if you are a long time subscriber and wondered where I have been, I hope this finds you in good health and thank you for sticking with me despite my 16 month hiatus. Welcome to my new subscribers that have signed up in the last 16 months , now you know why you haven’t seen any posts.

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

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

Yep, in the 10 years since I was diagnosed with PD, I have written at least one post in April about Parkinson’s Awareness Day, or Week or Month. The only year missing is 2018 when we were moving into our Sarasota home. I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and see what I wrote about in the past 10 years.

The first year was 2014 (click on the links to view) and most of the post was about Autism, my colonoscopy, my first dermatologist visit and how nice the weather was that week, Finally at the end of the post I mentioned the local Unity walk.

The next year, 2015, I quoted paragraphs from another blogger – Corey King. His views about awareness resonated with me and I hope my readers too.

In 2016 my post was long but all about PD awareness! So after 3 years I have caught on to the program and filled a post with my thoughts.

2017 was a quick one, with a link to a video about Unite for Parkinson’s.

In 2019 I had two posts (making up for missing 2018) the first one about our spinning class moving the bikes and holding our class in the lobby of the YMCA which was covered by a local TV station and resulted in my first TV gig! In the second post I covered the YMCA ride again and discussed how the class helps me fight PD. I also talked about experimenting with my medications doses and I am pleased to see that I am taking even less 4 years later!! EXERCISE WORKS!

In the COVID year of 2020, my World PD Day post was a review of the new book Ending Parkinson’s Disease, A Prescription for Action by Ray Dorsey MD et. al. The book was the basis for the Ending Parkinson’s movement that continues to lobby and push for research funding and has pushed to ban various chemicals that appear to cause PD.

In 2021 I discussed the book from the previous year and pushed for readers to join PD Avengers, a global alliance to end parkinson’s. If you haven’t joined, it’s not too late, click on the icon to the right and be a PD Avenger.

And last year, I introduced Spark! the new symbol for Parkinson’s Awareness. I also pushed again for readers to join PD Avengers and shared some infographics from the European PD organization on the myths of PD.

Now it is 2023 and we are getting closer to finding a marker that will improve the results of research trials looking for a cure or at least a disease modifying solution. We know that exercise is the best medicine to slow progression and we have many more options to deal with ‘off’ periods than there were in 2013. There have been significant improvements to DBS and Focused Ultrasound options to help deal with motor issues and tremor. Trials of stem cell implants are at stage 2 and 3 and we know a lot more about the genetics of PD. But I am sorry to report that the cure for Parkinson’s is still at least 5 years away, just like it was 10 years ago.

Parkinson’s Awareness month will continue into the foreseeable future as the hunt goes on to solve PD. So, join PD Avengers, donate to your favorite PD organization, join a clinical trial and let your elected officials know that you support the Ending Parkinson’s initiatives.

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

We have lived in Sarasota, Florida for 6+ years and have come to believe in the urban legend that Sarasota is protected from hurricanes because the Native Americans who first settled here blessed the lands to stay eternally safe from destructive storms and hurricanes. Fact is Sarasota Bay has not been a bull’s eye for a major hurricane in Florida since reliable records began in 1871.

But two weeks ago hurricane Ian that was forecasted to hit in Tampa to our North, started slipping south and suddenly the forecast was for it to come ashore in Sarasota. The emergency management authorities started evacuating the barrier islands, and we joined with a few neighbors to install hurricane shutters in preparation for a direct hit. Since 2002, the Florida building codes require new construction be able to withstand winds up to 150MPH. Our home was built in 2013 so it meets the new codes and it looked liked we were going to test the construction!

We opened our home to couple of friends who had to evacuate and one of them joined us as we hunkered down and got ready to ride out the storm. The Indian blessing seemed to be working as Ian continued to drop to the south and came ashore near Ft Myers’s about 50 miles (as the crow flies)south of us and then tracked northeast thru the city of Northport about 20 miles south of us on its way to the Atlantic, passing over Sarasota with windspeeds of 85 -100 mph. The wind and rain went on most of the night and you could feel the gusts when they hit the house.

We got up the next morning to find the house was undamaged except for a couple of loose roof tiles. There were lots of trees and bushes down in the area but no physical damage that we could see. Even more amazing was we never lost power! According to Florida Power and Light, of their 287,000 customers in Sarasota 280,000 were without power, so we were one of the lucky 7,000. We did lose our internet and cable for a several days, making it hard to keep up with what was happening as cell reception was spotty due to power being out to cell towers or the towers being damaged by the hurricane.

It’s been two weeks since the hurricane and most of the debris in our development has been cleaned up. Our tennis courts are back in operation after replacing the clay that blew off and putting the wind screens back up. There are still pockets of the area without power or internet particularly south of us in Northport where a large portion of the city was flooded by the Myakka river which is still above flood stage.

So, thanks to an Ancient Indian Blessing, good neighbors, and the updated Florida building codes, we survived our first and hopefully only hurricane. We are able to get groceries and fuel again and play tennis and cycle for PD. Life is returning to normal.

What a busy couple of weeks! We traveled to Bellaire and Traverse City Michigan to visit relatives, spent two days at the Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease Symposium held in Grand Rapids Michigan (more details below) and finished up with a trip to Bay City to visit with more relatives and friends.

In the Bellaire area we celebrated Mara’s brother’s 70th birthday and in Traverse City we helped out her sister at her used book store, The Bookie Joint, in downtown Traverse City (shameless plug). In Grand Rapids we had dinner with Rob and Carol Jones whom we first met at the Kripalu Wellness Retreat last October. We had a great time and caught up on changes to medications, symptoms, etc. since Kripalu.

In Bay City we visited with Mara’s cousins and met up with our friends Karen and Jerry whom we visited in Tucson, AZ in April. As I mentioned in the post about that visit, Jerry was diagnosed about the same time as I was last year. They were great hosts and a highlight was Friday night’s fried perch dinner.

The Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease Symposium was held at the Van Andel Institute and provided a forum for people with Parkinson’s Disease to interact with some of the top medical professionals and scientists involved in Parkinson’s Disease research. The event featured information sessions and presentations aimed at those in the research/medical field, caregivers and people living with the disease. The symposium also included Rallying to the Challenge, a one-of-a-kind patient-centered meeting designed to highlight the many ways people with Parkinson’s disease can impact the clinical trial process and accelerate access to new Parkinson’s disease treatments.

The Rallying to the Challenge was kicked off by Tom Isaacs, PwP and co-founder of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust, a UK based Parkinson’s research organization. Tom was diagnosed with early onset PD 20 years ago at the age of 27 and has been an active advocate for Parkinson’s research since then. His presentation to the 250+ neuroscientists and medical professionals and the 100+ PwP and care partners titled “The Urgent Unmet Needs of People with Parkinson’s” was inspiring and he received a standing ovation from the entire audience.

Tom noted that the one constant he has seen in PwP’s is if they are involved in any constructive way they benefit from an improved sense of well being and fulfillment. Saying “We must make patient involvement the rule, not the exception”, he went on to set out the different unmet needs at the different stages of the disease. You can watch a prerecorded video of the speech here it is about 16 minutes long but it will be worth your time.

Patients and caregivers then joined Tom Isaacs and a panel consisting of PwP’s, representatives from major organizations including National Parkinson’s Foundation, Michael J Fox Foundation, Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Parkinson’s Action Network, The Davis Phinney Foundation, The Brian Grant Foundation, Parkinson’s Movement, and The Cure Parkinson’s Trust along with patient advocates from around the world. We went over the results of a survey of PwP’s and researchers about what is needed for successful clinical trials. It was pretty exciting to be involved in this group all focused on one goal, increasing patient involvement.

The issue we brainstormed was how to overcome the fact that only about 5 – 10% of PwP’s participate in trials and up to 30% of clinical trials fail to recruit any participants. The goal was to find ways around the barriers that prevent participation. One of our team members was Brian Grant, a former NBA star who was diagnosed at the age of 36. He made an excellent presentation to the group on the benefits of teamwork.

The next day we rejoined the scientific presentation group and Tom Isaacs and the moderators from the breakout groups made a presentation on what is needed to increase patient engagement and clinical trial participation. Some of the points included getting PwP’s involved at the beginning of the trial so that our concerns are addressed up front, providing additional funding to pay for participants travel costs, and making use of current technology such as Skype so the participant doesn’t have to travel as often. The end goal is to make the process patient driven because with patient involvement more will participate in the trial, they will address patient needs, and they can be completed in a shorter time frame.

The conference was very educational and we added new “family” as we met many more PwP’s and care partner’s from the US, UK, and Canada. We were happy to see Bill Wilkins our fellow panel member from Atlanta on the Rallying to the Challenge team. Meeting Tom Isaacs and many of his panel members was an added bonus as it included many authors of blogs I follow and it was nice to meet them or hear them speak.

I have included a link to an easy to use glossary of the language of PD from National Parkinson’s Foundation under the PD Resources heading in the right hand column. If you do much research into PD you will come across a lot of new words and this link (or Google) will help you decode them.

We are home for a while and one of our goals is to switch my Parkinson’s care to a Movement Disorder Specialist (MDS) at the Vanderbilt Parkinson’s Disease Center in Nashville. They are one of NPF’s Centers of Excellence and only about two hours away from home. Stay tuned for our progress in that endeavor and my foray into brewing my own

Tag: Support Groups

Increasing Patient Involvement

What a busy couple of weeks! We traveled to Bellaire and Traverse City Michigan to visit relatives, spent two days at the Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease Symposium held in Grand Rapids Michigan (more details below) and finished up with a trip to Bay City to visit with more relatives and friends.

In the Bellaire area we celebrated Mara’s brother’s 70th birthday and in Traverse City we helped out her sister at her used book store, The Bookie Joint, in downtown Traverse City (shameless plug). In Grand Rapids we had dinner with Rob and Carol Jones whom we first met at the Kripalu Wellness Retreat last October. We had a great time and caught up on changes to medications, symptoms, etc. since Kripalu.

In Bay City we visited with Mara’s cousins and met up with our friends Karen and Jerry whom we visited in Tucson, AZ in April. As I mentioned in the post about that visit, Jerry was diagnosed about the same time as I was last year. They were great hosts and a highlight was Friday night’s fried perch dinner.

The Grand Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease Symposium was held at the Van Andel Institute and provided a forum for people with Parkinson’s Disease to interact with some of the top medical professionals and scientists involved in Parkinson’s Disease research. The event featured information sessions and presentations aimed at those in the research/medical field, caregivers and people living with the disease. The symposium also included Rallying to the Challenge, a one-of-a-kind patient-centered meeting designed to highlight the many ways people with Parkinson’s disease can impact the clinical trial process and accelerate access to new Parkinson’s disease treatments.

The Rallying to the Challenge was kicked off by Tom Isaacs, PwP and co-founder of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust, a UK based Parkinson’s research organization. Tom was diagnosed with early onset PD 20 years ago at the age of 27 and has been an active advocate for Parkinson’s research since then. His presentation to the 250+ neuroscientists and medical professionals and the 100+ PwP and care partners titled “The Urgent Unmet Needs of People with Parkinson’s” was inspiring and he received a standing ovation from the entire audience.

Tom noted that the one constant he has seen in PwP’s is if they are involved in any constructive way they benefit from an improved sense of well being and fulfillment. Saying “We must make patient involvement the rule, not the exception”, he went on to set out the different unmet needs at the different stages of the disease. You can watch a prerecorded video of the speech here it is about 16 minutes long but it will be worth your time.

Patients and caregivers then joined Tom Isaacs and a panel consisting of PwP’s, representatives from major organizations including National Parkinson’s Foundation, Michael J Fox Foundation, Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Parkinson’s Action Network, The Davis Phinney Foundation, The Brian Grant Foundation, Parkinson’s Movement, and The Cure Parkinson’s Trust along with patient advocates from around the world. We went over the results of a survey of PwP’s and researchers about what is needed for successful clinical trials. It was pretty exciting to be involved in this group all focused on one goal, increasing patient involvement.

The issue we brainstormed was how to overcome the fact that only about 5 – 10% of PwP’s participate in trials and up to 30% of clinical trials fail to recruit any participants. The goal was to find ways around the barriers that prevent participation. One of our team members was Brian Grant, a former NBA star who was diagnosed at the age of 36. He made an excellent presentation to the group on the benefits of teamwork.

The next day we rejoined the scientific presentation group and Tom Isaacs and the moderators from the breakout groups made a presentation on what is needed to increase patient engagement and clinical trial participation. Some of the points included getting PwP’s involved at the beginning of the trial so that our concerns are addressed up front, providing additional funding to pay for participants travel costs, and making use of current technology such as Skype so the participant doesn’t have to travel as often. The end goal is to make the process patient driven because with patient involvement more will participate in the trial, they will address patient needs, and they can be completed in a shorter time frame.

The conference was very educational and we added new “family” as we met many more PwP’s and care partner’s from the US, UK, and Canada. We were happy to see Bill Wilkins our fellow panel member from Atlanta on the Rallying to the Challenge team. Meeting Tom Isaacs and many of his panel members was an added bonus as it included many authors of blogs I follow and it was nice to meet them or hear them speak.

I have included a link to an easy to use glossary of the language of PD from National Parkinson’s Foundation under the PD Resources heading in the right hand column. If you do much research into PD you will come across a lot of new words and this link (or Google) will help you decode them.

We are home for a while and one of our goals is to switch my Parkinson’s care to a Movement Disorder Specialist (MDS) at the Vanderbilt Parkinson’s Disease Center in Nashville. They are one of NPF’s Centers of Excellence and only about two hours away from home. Stay tuned for our progress in that endeavor and my foray into brewing my own

October 4, 2014
“The Team”

I was listening to the BBC World Service broadcast this weekend and heard a very interesting interview with John Harbaugh, coach of the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team. One of his guiding coaching philosophy’s came from the legendary University of Michigan coach Bo Shembechler who believed in “The Team.” Many of the Parkinson’s support organizations talk about the need for a team approach in battling Parkinson’s. For example, The National Parkinson’s Foundation (NPF) have designated Centers of Excellence and Care Centers that provide a team approach. In fact, that designation is what led to my visit to the University of Florida Movement Disorders Center in January. You can read about my visit here.

Now the Michael J Fox Foundation and AbbVie Inc have teamed up to form Partners in Parkinson’s which “… aims to fill in knowledge gaps, provide new educational tools and resources for the Parkinson’s community to help Parkinson’s patients and caregivers optimize care at every stage of the disease, now and in the future.” Their motto is ‘Discover the Benefit of Team’ and they have a great website which is chock full of good information including a section on “Building your Care Team” In addition to the website they are conducting informational events in cities across the country (we are signed up for the Atlanta event in September) and the site includes a search tool to find Movement Disorder Specialist (MDS) in your area.

Of course ‘My Team‘ includes my doctor, my neurologist, my physical therapist and the other medical personnel who are in charge of my medical care. But of even more importance, my team includes my wonderful wife/primary caregiver, family members, friends, the other PwP bloggers I read or follow on twitter, the members of the support groups I attend, and you, the readers of this blog. All of you provide me with needed support, both physical and mental, helping me deal with my Parkinson’s disease. You are all appreciated and I thank you for your support.

And for me and other People with Parkinson’s ‘Our Team‘ includes the many researchers who are out to find better methods of treating or curing Parkinson’s and the many organizations such as The Michael J Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson’s Foundation, the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, the Parkinson’s Action Network and others who provide us with up to date information, help to prioritize and fund the research, and advocate for our rights. All of the ‘Our Team’ members need and deserve our thanks and support.

As I mentioned in my last post, I continue use the Fox Trial Finder to look for clinical trials and I have been accepted in one that tracks my typing cadence to measure my fine motor skills. I suppose they are measuring that cadence right now 🙂 I will get the results at the end of the 90 day test period. I definitely notice problems with my fine motor skills so will be interested to see what they discover.

Last week was support group week and we attended both groups. The East TN group included a presentation on adaptive equipment available to deal with problems like putting on shoes, buttoning shirts, cooking, eating, etc. The local group presentation was from a Physical Therapist who is trained in the LSTV BIG program developed for Parkinson’s patients. The program is a four week, four days a week training program that aims to improve gait, trunk rotation and balance. I had read about the program but was not aware it was offered locally. Last weekend was also high school graduation weekend for our oldest grandson, Garrett , more on that exciting event in the next post.

May 26, 2014
A Hodgepodge – Part One

Or maybe it should be a Mish Mash? how about a Mashup? Anyway, this is a post of odds and ends I have been doing or reading about since my last post. We arrived home from Florida just in time to get caught up in the snow and ice and cold a couple of weeks ago and last week and this week so we are excited to leave soon for our regularly scheduled February beach visit. While home we have kept up the exercise on the bike, walking the few days we could, and doing Tai Chi. I purchased the DVD recommended by the National Parkinson’s Foundation and we have really enjoyed it. The fluid movements seem to be helping with flexibility and balance and the QiGong warmup exercises stretch a few muscles I haven’t been using much this winter 🙂

I was excited to see the announcement last week that The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), the Alzheimer’s Association (ALZ),and The W. Garfield Weston Foundation have joined together to announce a collaborative effort to stimulate analyses across the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) research enterprises. This will build on recent evidence suggesting substantial overlap between AD, PD, and other neurodegenerative diseases pathologically, but also potentially biologically. They will be able to utilize two large biomarker databases, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), for new research ideas. I hope this collaboration produces benefits for both PD and AZ current and potential patients.

Another collaboration recently announced was the formation of the Alliance of Independent Regional Parkinson Organizations (AIRPO). AIRPO is a consortium of regional independent nonprofit organizations, with the shared goals of finding a cure for Parkinson’s and supporting those who live with the disease. AIRPO aims to enrich programs available to the Parkinson’s disease community by encouraging collaboration, leveraging organizational strengths and maximizing efficiency among its founding member organizations, which include: Houston Area Parkinson Society,Michigan Parkinson Foundation, Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation, Parkinson Association of the Carolinas and Parkinson Association of the Rockies. The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation offers administrative support to AIRPO.

I belong to a ‘virtual’ support group site called Patients Like Me and one of the things they do is conduct research in connection with research groups. Recently they started a study with the objective of being able to monitor disease progression over the phone. I am a participant in the study and will be interested to see if it is possible. So far I was required to fill out a survey then called an 800 number and followed the instructions to record a voice segment, quite similar to the test I received in Florida last month. More information about the study has been published here.

I also started a genetics for beginners online course at Udacity.com. I have received the results of my DNA test from 23andme.com and decided I needed to increase my knowledge to fully understand the results. The course has been challenging and I just finished the quiz for lessons 1 – 4 (they didn’t say there would be a quiz!) I like the instructors and the online format has been great, they have come a long way since the last online course I took back a decade or two ago. Interesting stuff.

Well enough for this post, as the title suggests, there will be at least a Part Two which I hope to post before we leave for Florida on Friday so stay tuned.

February 11, 2014

Where in the world is Tom

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

Where in the world is Tom

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

Nine Years

Other Posts

Where in the world is Tom

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month – 9th Edition

We Survived Hurricane Ian!

Nine Years

Tag: Support Groups

Increasing Patient Involvement

“The Team”

A Hodgepodge – Part One