[stevem53]

Hi Everyone..The summer is flying by..We've had some nice weather, not to hot and not to humid..Lot of thunderstorms lately though

On Tuesday, we had our APDA walk committee meeting at Goddard State Park, where we have our annual walk/fundraiser..We went over the runners course to make sure we had the boudaries right, and then went down to the carousel there and had our business meeting..It was a beautiful day

I got out shellfishing twice this week..I went on Tuesday for steamer clams, and I went for hard shell clams..(quahogs)..yesterday..I was working at the mouth of a popular cove that lots of recreational boaters anchor, and raft up at on summer weekends..A guy rowed out to where I was and bought a bunch of little neck clams off of me, and I got a better price than I would have gotten for them at the market..I was able to work for about three hours, and I landed on a spot that was infested with clams..I caught a bushel and a half of littlenecks, and three bushels of chowder quahogs, the large clams..It has been about 4 years since I last worked there, maybe five years..Between the fact that there are far less shellfishermen around these days, and the fact that all the divers, and some of the handrakers have been working on steamer clams for the past 9 years, the quahog beds have had some relief, and are prospering..That works out great for an old broken down parkie like me, even though Im nursing my numerous aches and pains today

How was your week?

[jcitron]

Steve,

It sounds like you had a great time. It's glad to hear the beds are recovering after all these years. I think in part it has to do with the high price of fuel so there are fewer boats in the area.

My week could have been better, although the end of it turned out okay. I went into the week with a wicked fatigue and a case of BPV (Benign Positional Vertigo). There's nothing benign about being unable to sit or stand up because the world spins around. This made me extremely sick to my stomach and unable to drive for a few days. My boss wasn't thrilled with this and warned me about taking too much time off, but then sent me home on Tuesday because I looked "unsettled" when I went in ill. So needless to say, I ended up back home and slept. I called my neuro about it, and finally on Wednesday she called me back. She was away, which is rare and got the message when she returned. I told her I was taking meclazine, which she had prescribed before for this. The problem with this medication is that it was way too strong. I ended up sleeping nearly 36 hours straight with only one pill! I would get up, take my meds maybe eat something, then return back to bed for another 3 hours between PD meds. She had me cut them in half and this worked tremendously better. I ended up getting over the BPV after another day or two, but now can't turn my head too fast. Although by Sunday (today) I'm no longer dizzy. This is one nasty thing that I wouldn't wish on my worsed enemy!

On Thursday I went for an eye apppointment. I had gotten new glasses in February and this was a follow-up visit to see how they're doing. Well there's good news and bad news here. The glasses are working better for the right eye, but are not working as well for the left. My double vision has gotten worse even though the new glasses have an increased prism strength in them. They worked well initially, but now there is a decline in the ability of them to control the double vision. He knows about the PD and we think that even though the glasses helped my existing double vision due to some eye surgery when I was a kid, the PD has gotten worse and is now causing the eyes to get worse as well. He said this would also explain why the glasses aren't as effective as they used to be for my left eye.

The other swell news from the eye visit is that he really doesn't want me driving anymore so I'll have to see how this goes because otherwise I don't have any other transportation to and from work if I can't drive. I seem to be driving okay now because I shut one eye to reduce the two images. I've kind of gotten used to the double world and seem to use one eye most of the time to get around it. Hopefully he doesn't pull my license on me.

After the bummer of a week, Saturday turned out for a perfect bike riding day. I took my bike out for about a 15 mile round trip ride. I started at my house, went the long and easy way over to Lake Saltonstall (Plugs Pond). I say easy way because the short way is up my very steep hill, and that is still really difficult for me to do yet. Once at the lake, I followed the off-road park trail around the shore and then around Kenoza Lake. This was all through the woods on a dirt path. I pedalled most of the way, but ended up walking some of the really steep parts. At the end of the trail, there's a washed out spot on the shore trail so I ended up taking the higher one I mean is really high. It climbs to the peak of one of the four hills that surround the two lakes. I had to walk the hill all the way to the top because I would have fallen over otherwise. I was pretty winded and my thighs were burning, but otherwise I did well. Once up to the top, the bumpy ride down the other side was pretty easy. I went down slowly though with the brakes on because I didn't want to go over the edge and down the slope into the lake. When I left the park, I stopped at the ball field near Northern Essex Community College (NECCO) and had a drink and a snack. From here I was only 2 miles from my house. and still felt pretty good and decided to extend my ride a bit. I then took a back road out to the local main road (Route 110) and followed that up to another road that goes over the Merrimack River to the opposite side. I then climbed up another rather large hill, but this time I road it. This brought me up to Route 113 in West Newbury, and I followed that back home. I then crossed the river againin Groveland, and ended up being about a mile from my house. The ride home, being slightly upgrade was a bit tiring, but I made it home easily from there.

Now for another disturbing part. My balance has improved tremendously while riding. I no longer pull to one side and my arms no longer shake. However, I scared myself really bad climbing out of the tub after a bath. I sit down rather than stand in the shower in case I get dizzy and land on my head. Well in theory and in the past this has worked well. This time well, I was in for a bad treat. I stood up slowly so not to make myself dizzy without any problems, but as I stodd up the Parkie legs decided to throw me off balance with some stiffness. As a result, I ended up grabbing the towel rack in the shower to keep myself from wacking my head on the faucet. Later on last night, I almost fell down stairs due to the same reason. The legs decided that they had enough and tightend up as I climbed the stairs from the family room.

John

[stevem53]

Doesnt it always seem to there is a price to be paid for physical activity?

Im having a tough, painful, stiff day today

[Evonne]

My week was pretty good. We spent the first few days of the week on vacation at Sun Lakes Resort with the kids. It was a fun place and we had a really nice time. The only problem was that the wind really picked up at night and for the first couple of nights I was awake listening to the wind howl and feeling the trailer shake. I noticed that I was more symptomatic than usual and I figured it was due to the lack of sleep. The only thing that concerned me was that I had some strange sort of spasm that affected my upper back and shoulders. I was sitting up in a lounge chair and all of the sudden my upper body just started shaking...almost like a seizure of just my body. It happened twice. I have an appointment with my Neuro tomorrow so I am going to let him know about it. Aside from that, it was a great trip.

We came home on Wednesday and then I went to fill out my application for the CNA program that I want to get into. I loved the atmosphere of the care facility. It was very warm and inviting. I have an interview on August 18th. They are only accepting twelve people into the program. I hope that I am one of them! The program starts on August 25th, so if I am accepted, it will be a whirlwind of change throughout my house. The boys start school on September 2nd. We have yet to go school shopping... I guess that is because I am a little bit in denial about the summer being almost over! Shopping for school stuff would definitely mean that Fall is approaching. Summer in Washington is my favorite season and I am never happy to see it come to an end.

Thursday we took the kids to Silverwood Amusement Park in Idaho. It was very hot out, about 94 degrees. We hit the coasters in the morning and the waterpark in the afternoon. The coasters were a little rough on me, so I kind of payed for it later that night and on Friday. The waterpark was very fun and pretty relaxing. They have these really neat wave pools that simulate the ocean waves. As a former California Girl, I really enjoyed just hearing the sound of the waves and the kids laughing and having fun.

Well, Saturday came and it was back to reality. Laundry, cleaning...the usual. I have more to get done today, so I better get a move on it!

[Todd]

Totally exhausted from the 2008 YOPN Conference in Atlanta. Planning took the better part of a year, and the conference just flew by, but everything was great and beyond expectations. Travel just wipes me out and I'm hoping to recover in time to make the long journey to Hawaii this week. Certainly not complaining though! Off to lay on the beach and float in the water.

Have a good week and fight the good fight!