Some of you may be familiar with Dr. Laurie K Mischley from Bastyr University in Seattle. She has a medical degree in Naturopathic Medicine and specializes in the nutritional requirements for neuro degenerative disorders. She has spent over 10 years working with PD patients and has a clinical trial going on regarding Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in PD where participants (I have been one since 8/2014) complete a series of surveys every 6 months to report the status and progression of their PD and we also compete a 24 hour food diary. She has presented programs at the World Parkinson’s Congress and other research meetings and she is considered an expert in the nutritional needs of PD patients.

In addition to seeing patients and conducting research, Laurie also hosts a week long Parkinson’s Summer School at Baystr and she is now offering PD School 2020, an on line course. She describes the course as follows:

“Parkinson’s School was created to be a resource for patients and their family members. Clinic visits are too few and far between and patients have questions that are going unanswered. Over the past 10 years I’ve treated over 3000 patients with Parkinson’s and these courses represent the themes I find myself repeating.

Throughout 2020, a new course will be released on the 14th and 28th of every month. Comments and course discussion will be open for the two weeks after each course to allow time for questions. After comments close, you will continue to have unlimited access to the videos and may watch them as often as you’d like.

As far as I know, online education programs to teach patients to better navigate their disease do not exist. I’m hoping this program will stimulate conversation, collaboration, and a sense of empowerment throughout the community.“

You can register for the course here. The cost of the course is $10 per lesson or $150 for all 24 lessons. Use coupon code NWPF-HOPE for a 20% discount bringing the price down to $120 for all 24 lessons. Below are the topics that will be covered during the year so you can pick and choose if you don’t want to sign up for the entire course.

You can watch the welcome for no charge where she discusses her background and credentials and the outline of the course so you have a better idea of what will be offered before you commit to taking the courses. I have signed up for the full course and I have included my thoughts about the first course below.

Lesson One – Orientation

I think this is the video we wish we could have viewed when we were first diagnosed. It covers what PD is and how it is more than the motor symptoms that affect us and what we can do to delay or reverse it. If you are on the fence about taking the course I highly recommend you purchase the first lesson for $10 just for the knowledge you will gain about Parkinson’s, how it progresses and what she has been doing to reverse or slow progression.

She and her research team have created a PD scoring system that is easy to complete and correlates well with the UPDRS and other tests we often take at the Doctor’s office for both diagnosis and current status. Her goal is to reduce your score by the end of the year. The PRO PD test is available to anyone at propd.org. There is no cost and it takes about 5 minutes to complete and get a score. I took it and ended up with a score of 744. I have asked for my previous scores from my participation in the CAM trial and will be interested to see if there is a change and which way, since my exercise level now is about double what it was in 2014/15.

All of her ideas are supported by slides that contain relevant research reports along with supporting data from the CAM study. This class is interesting and provides a wealth of information for PwP’s. I will keep you posted as I progress through the remaining classes.

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

PS: I just received an email from National Parkinson’s Foundation, Dr. Mischley is the featured expert on their next Expert Briefing webinar on March 17, 2020 from 1pm – 2pm ET. More information is available here If you are reading this post after 3/17/2020, all of the webinars are recorded and made available on their website.

Happy New Year!

OK maybe a belated wish but a sincere one none the less, for indeed it is a New Year and for most (if not all) of us, the only double digit (2020) year we will see. So I hope your holidays were joyous and that your new year has started out right!

Here’s what’s happened in our world since my last post:

We finished the holiday season attending various events with friends including riding the Sarasota trolley to view Christmas lights, catching a Christmas concert by the ‘living’ Christmas tree at a local church, attending a Mo-Town Christmas celebration, catching a play at the Florida Studio Theater, and hosting brunch for a few friends on Christmas day. And then, we bought a new car and finished the year by watching the last sunset over the gulf for 2019 on New Years Eve. Whew!!

I started the new year out with a visit to my neurologist where I was awarded a gold star for the best patient of the day! Well at least as of 10am that morning anyway. He was happy with my lack of progression, my continued efforts to exercise daily and he was OK with my efforts to finally get my Parkinson’s drugs working with minimal off time. He even suggested cancelling my next appointment and going to once every 6 months. So, for us PwPs it was a great visit, he didn’t change or add medications, was happy with my finger tapping, getting out of the chair and walking and I got a pat on the back and a “keep doing what you are doing” . Perfect!!

We have continued to keep up with tennis most everyday and I am cycling 3 days a week now that our cycling coach is also conducting two classes a week at a second location. According to my FitBit I am averaging about 6-7 hours of exercise per week with 3 hours high intensity (cycling) and 3 – 4 hours of doubles tennis at a medium level.

Speaking of cycling, I have been working on a website about the Pedaling for Parkinson’s classes in the Sarasota area and the benefits of exercise for PwP’s. Click here to view the site SRQ Pedals to Fight PD. We will also use the website for class members and cycling coaches who want to download recorded audio of some of our rides to listen to when they are unable to attend class, traveling, etc.

If you haven’t read Simon Stott’s year end review of 2019 on his Science of Parkinson’s Blog, I highly recommend you take a look at it. Sometimes we feel like nothing new is happening in PD research but you will find that a lot of exciting research is going on. You can read it here and you can read his post on what’s on the horizon for 2020 here.

I recently signed up for PD School 2020 by Dr Laurie Mischley and had planned to write about it in this post, but this post is long enough and I think it deserves a post of it’s own. Yes that means I might have two posts in one week!! Stay tuned and see if it happens.

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

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow, it is already Thanksgiving Day and that means this year is almost over! Seems like it was just New Years Day last month. We are in Knoxville for the weekend but I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes for the Holiday season.

A quick reminder that following Black Friday tomorrow and Cyber Monday is Giving Tuesday, a great time to make a donation to your favorite charity, no matter what the cause. Several of the PD Foundations will be matching your donation on Tuesday and I’m sure that is also true for other charities. It is a great opportunity to make a difference.

You might recall from my last post that the YMCA where I take my Pedaling with Parkinson’s class was scheduled to close September 13, 2019. This announcement caused a massive outburst from members and the community of Sarasota resulting in a new entity being formed to take over the two fitness centers. But it went right down to the wire (in fact they actually closed as scheduled and then reopened 3 days later) before we knew if we would have class the week of September 16th. So our coach had branched out and we had a plan in place to move our class to HealthFit, the gym where I first started cycling for PD. (You can read my post about that experience here. )

When we were able to save the YMCA, she continued to coach a class at HealthFit and I have started going to that class when possible to up my cycling days to the recommended 3 times per week. I still feel this is the best exercise I have found for slowing the progression of my PD. Studies continue to show that high intensity interval training improves dopamine production while providing cardio benefits and slowing progression. If you are on the fence about trying cycling take a look at this recent study reported on the Science of Parkinson’s blog.

We are excited for the ‘winter’ weather here in Florida, it has made our almost daily tennis games much more pleasant and enjoyable. We are playing most days and occasionally we even play twice a day! I don’t know why we aren’t on the senior tennis circuit, surely all this training should turn us into another Roger Federer or Ashleigh Barty!! I guess we will just have to keep it up until it happens 🙂

Coming up – Parkinson’s Revolution – an indoor cycling experience taking place February 8 sponsored by the Parkinson’s Foundation. This event combines passion, determination and community to generate awareness and advance our mission toward a cure. You can find more information here and I will post more information on the blog as our plans firm up.

Have a great holiday season!

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

We spent the last two weeks in Sarasota, Florida getting things set up and exploring the community. We are home now but will return at the end of the month for a few weeks before coming back to The Lake Cottage for most of the summer.

We brought our bicycles down to Sarasota and have enjoyed exploring the Village Walk community where our town home is located riding along the various trails that crisscross the community. We ride to the town center to pick up our mail, visit the fitness center or go to the pool. We have also found that by car we are pretty much just 15 minutes or less away from the grocery store, the YMCA, the mall, restaurants and (at least during the off season)
the beach.

We have joined the Sarasota YMCA where they have a Pedaling for Parkinson’s class twice a week along with other classes for seniors. They are also working to get certified as PWR (Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery) instructors and we attended one of the classes last week as ‘guinea pigs’ as they get ready for certification in another week or so. The program was developed by Becky Farley who also developed the LSVT BIG program. The class was great and incorporated chair exercises along with standing exercises using exaggerated movements. You can read more about PWR here.

We found it easy to establish a daily exercise routine in Sarasota. Along with the pedaling classes, being able to easily bike, walk, or work out at the community fitness center provides a good variety of exercises during the week. I have become a firm believer that regular exercise is slowing the progression of my PD in addition to improving my overall health. And after reading “What’s Good for the Heart is Good for the Brain” on NPR this month, I’m hopeful that regular exercise will also improve my cardiovascular health and cognitive function along with slowing my PD progression.

You are probably beginning to notice that I write as much about the benefits of exercise as I do about signing up for the Fox Trial Finder and Fox Insight programs. And I know some of you are saying ‘I can’t exercise” because I have balance issues or I am too rigid or _______ (fill in the blank). I recently read a perfect response to “I can’t” in a post by Natasha McCarthy on her blog A broken body’s Journey where she said:

“I’m always preaching about how the studies prove that exercise is the
only proven way to slow the progression of PD. If you are told there’s
this miracle fix that can ensure your body works the way it does (or
maybe even better) and despite your degenerative disease stays where it is for a long time to come wouldn’t you beg me for the secret? Well,
it’s no secret, you just have to get up and move the more the better.
If you say you “can’t” run anymore “try” walking. If you say you
“can’t” do aerobics “try” water aerobics. “Can’t” handle impact on your
feet “try” biking. Your balance is bad and you say you “can’t” because
you’ll fall, then try a stationary bike with a good seat, or chair
yoga!” (Read the entire post here)

So in addition to clicking on the logos to the right and signing up for Fox Trial Finder and/or Fox Insight, how about checking out the free exercise video available from The Davis Phinney Foundation website. The exercises are designed for PwPs, demonstrated by PwPs , can easily be modified for any level of fitness and they don’t require a gym membership or a swimming pool! Click on the Davis Phinney Foundation logo on the right to check it out.

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

Tag: Travel

Our Sarasota Experiment – Part One

We spent the last two weeks in Sarasota, Florida getting things set up and exploring the community. We are home now but will return at the end of the month for a few weeks before coming back to The Lake Cottage for most of the summer.

We brought our bicycles down to Sarasota and have enjoyed exploring the Village Walk community where our town home is located riding along the various trails that crisscross the community. We ride to the town center to pick up our mail, visit the fitness center or go to the pool. We have also found that by car we are pretty much just 15 minutes or less away from the grocery store, the YMCA, the mall, restaurants and (at least during the off season)
the beach.

We have joined the Sarasota YMCA where they have a Pedaling for Parkinson’s class twice a week along with other classes for seniors. They are also working to get certified as PWR (Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery) instructors and we attended one of the classes last week as ‘guinea pigs’ as they get ready for certification in another week or so. The program was developed by Becky Farley who also developed the LSVT BIG program. The class was great and incorporated chair exercises along with standing exercises using exaggerated movements. You can read more about PWR here.

We found it easy to establish a daily exercise routine in Sarasota. Along with the pedaling classes, being able to easily bike, walk, or work out at the community fitness center provides a good variety of exercises during the week. I have become a firm believer that regular exercise is slowing the progression of my PD in addition to improving my overall health. And after reading “What’s Good for the Heart is Good for the Brain” on NPR this month, I’m hopeful that regular exercise will also improve my cardiovascular health and cognitive function along with slowing my PD progression.

You are probably beginning to notice that I write as much about the benefits of exercise as I do about signing up for the Fox Trial Finder and Fox Insight programs. And I know some of you are saying ‘I can’t exercise” because I have balance issues or I am too rigid or _______ (fill in the blank). I recently read a perfect response to “I can’t” in a post by Natasha McCarthy on her blog A broken body’s Journey where she said:

“I’m always preaching about how the studies prove that exercise is the
only proven way to slow the progression of PD. If you are told there’s
this miracle fix that can ensure your body works the way it does (or
maybe even better) and despite your degenerative disease stays where it is for a long time to come wouldn’t you beg me for the secret? Well,
it’s no secret, you just have to get up and move the more the better.
If you say you “can’t” run anymore “try” walking. If you say you
“can’t” do aerobics “try” water aerobics. “Can’t” handle impact on your
feet “try” biking. Your balance is bad and you say you “can’t” because
you’ll fall, then try a stationary bike with a good seat, or chair
yoga!” (Read the entire post here)

So in addition to clicking on the logos to the right and signing up for Fox Trial Finder and/or Fox Insight, how about checking out the free exercise video available from The Davis Phinney Foundation website. The exercises are designed for PwPs, demonstrated by PwPs , can easily be modified for any level of fitness and they don’t require a gym membership or a swimming pool! Click on the Davis Phinney Foundation logo on the right to check it out.

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

May 19, 2016
Pedaling with Parkinson’s

As part of our stay here in Florida, we became temporary members at a local Gym that provides PwP specific classes along with all the other amenities of a large gym. One of the classes they offer is Pedaling with Parkinson’s, a twice a week spin class specificly designed for PwP’s. The objective of the session is to cycle for 40 minutes, keeping your heart rate between 60% – 80% of your MHR (maximum heart rate), and keeping the cadence (RPM) between 80 and 90 RPM per minute.

In order to take the class, I had an hour long evaluation that covered, among many things, medical conditions other than PD, what PD symptoms I had, and how my balance was – almost made the 30 seconds standing on one foot! Then, after taking my resting heart rate and blood pressure, I spent 20 minutes on the spin bike, upping the resistance until I couldn’t maintain 80 RPM for a minute, which provided my MHR.

I managed to pass the tests so last Friday I joined a full class of 20+ PwP’s for my first forced march on a bike! After adjusting the bike, putting on the heart rate monitor and doing a light warm up spin (you know in the 60 – 80 RPM range) the instructor cranked up the music and off we went, upping the resistance while maintaining the cadence at 80 – 90 RPM for what seemed to be forever. OK maybe it wasn’t forever but it was a solid 40 minute workout, with brief slow downs for hydration before the next song came on. All of our data was captured on a computer which then projected our heart rate and the percent of MHR up on a screen in front of the room. In addition, the bike was equipped with a device showing our RPM, heart rate and % of MHR.

This program is based on research by Jay Alberts, PhD, at the Cleveland Clinic and a demonstration study by the Neuro Challenge Foundation here in Sarasota which have yielded promising preliminary scientific and anecdotal results. The studies have indicated that doing this twice a week helps create new pathways (neuroplasticity) in the brain and participants have reported a reduction in tremors, better balance and gait, regained sense of smell, and increased energy. I have been interested in doing this for some time and I’m glad I get the opportunity to participate while here as they also offer this class at the YMCA in Knoxville if I want to continue when I get home.

The Neuro Challenge Foundation also sponsors the three dance for PD classes we are attending while here along with many other activities for PwP and Care Partners. They provide a Parkinson Disease Resource Guide and offer a one on one Care Advisor Program to help PD Patients find the best treatment and support options available. An excellent resource for PwP in the Sarasota area and one of the reasons we like to come to this area. Speaking of dance classes, our Let Your Yoga Dance for PD class made the local paper, you can view the article here. We have a good time in all three classes and it certainly helps keep me flexible.

Oh, did I mention we caught up with Dale, Monica and grand daughters Angelina and Ariana in San Francisco? OK, maybe we were at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and took advantage of the set. We had a great time with them in Disney World and here at the beach.

We continue to enjoy our beach time in between dance classes and time at the gym and I can’t believe our time here is half over already!

Don’t forget to sign up for MJF Trial Finder by clicking on that large orange button on the top right and then you might as well join Fox Insight by clicking on the logo to your right! Thanks.

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

February 21, 2016
It’s a New Year…

and it’s way past time for a catch up blog post. I think the last post of substance was about Giving Tuesday at the end of November, 2015! So this is my attempt to condense a couple of months of activity into one post. Not long after the Giving Tuesday post, we made an unscheduled trip to Traverse City, MI to help out Mara’s sister with her used book store. We have no retail experience and it’s been over ten years since I’ve worked a 40+ hour shift but we had a great time taking care of business. If you are in the Traverse City area, be sure and stop in at her store The Bookie Joint downtown just off Front Street. (yep, a shameless plug!)

We got home just in time to get ready for Christmas and enjoyed the holidays with our family and then it was time to start getting ready for THE BEACH! We arrived last Saturday and were awakened at 3am Sunday morning by the sounds of a tornado (I’ll be darned if it didn’t sound just like a train). Luckily no one in our complex was injured but a lot of the units had windows and screens damaged and a lot of cars suffered broken glass and other damage. We hadn’t planned on being part of the effort to prove the theory of global warning but we are thankful that no one was hurt and our unit and car were not damaged.

On the Parkinson’s front, I was appointed webmaster for the East Tennessee Parkinson’s Support Group and spent a lot of free time during December learning WordPress and upgrading the site to the latest version. When that wrapped up early in January I spent my free time updating the Tennessee Parkinson’s Disease Resource site with maps and adding new information.

Somehow I also managed to take an exercise holiday and I began to notice my symptoms were getting worse, particularly the brady kinesia (ridgity). Since we arrived in Florida, I have been walking at least an hour a day and we have signed up for two Parkinson’s dance classes We are also planning to sign up for additional exercise classes at the Neuro Challenge Institute, a great resource for Parkinson’s Patients in the greater Sarasota area. I am already noticing improvement which once again proves how important exercise is for PWP’s!

We also signed up for a weekly Let Your Yoga Dance class. We were introduced to Let Your Yoga Dance while at the Kripalu retreat in October 2013 and this class reunited us with instructor/founder Megha and Joel and Melissa whom we first met at the retreat and meet up with every year while in Sarasota. Our first class was yesterday and Megha had us doing deep breathing exercises, stretching and dancing in no time. It is a great class that not only provides exercise but brings ‘healing through joy’.

Coming up we will attend the Neuro Challenge Insitute annual Parkinson’s Symposium on Saturday where one of the topics to be covered is the Tasigna trial conducted at Georgetown University. Tasigna is a leukemia drug that appears to stop or reverse some of the PD symptoms during a small test involving 12 Parkinson’s patients. I am looking forward to hearing more about the first trial and the results and will provide more information in the next post.

So there you have it, a short version of a very busy couple of months. Oh, did I mention I am still wearing my smartwatch and providing data for the Fox Insight Trial? If you haven’t signed up you can do it here, and don’t forget to also sign up for Fox Trial Finder at the same time and join over 52,000 of us who have already signed up!

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

January 20, 2016

PD School – 2020

Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

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: Travel

Our Sarasota Experiment – Part One

Pedaling with Parkinson’s

It’s a New Year…