A bit of an update. We are back at Whistler and my skiing continues to be less than stellar. I was hit by another skier yesterday which rather knocked the wind out of me for sure.

I'm continuing to do quite well on the Neupro patch, 4 mg. My biggest problem now is an increase in the tremor in my right arm as well as something that is wrong with my right shoulder which is apparently not related to Parkinson's. I am also part of a research study on Galantamine which will last for three months and which involves three functional MRIs. In addition to the MRIs I take 4 mg of galantamine in the morning and in the evening and after a month it will be raised to 8 mg and then 16 after another month. the whole thing is finished at the end of May. I tried taking a medication to reduce the tremor but the combination of that with the galantamine was pretty nasty so I stopped the additional medication. Instead I tried taking two ibuprofen about two hours after the galantamine and that is working reasonably well. I take the second galantamine at dinner time and then two more ibuprofen before going to bed.

In the meantime, I continue to cycle, but I'm finding it harder and harder to go a full hour at 80 to 90 RPM. I'm looking forward to being at home for a month and a half where I can bike nearly every day.

I made an important decision in my life. I'm not sure if it was the smartest, but it seems to be the wisest. It seems to me that somebody has to take part in these trials if we are to find answers to what causes Parkinson's and what will cure it. I am already 67 years old and don't have young children to worry about, except for my beautiful grandchildren, so I decided to sign up for trials, including drug trials which I had previously avoided. In addition to the galantamine trial, I've been accepted by the NIH as part of their PD study group. I'm not sure what all that will involve except I know for sure I'll be going to DC each year for nine years for MRIs. I presume there will be other tests involved as well as they become available.

Back to cycling, the Glenn Erickson Pedaling for Parkinson's Ride will be July 21. The group of people who are working on it is absolutely stellar. You can check out the webpage for more information.