the content, you don't beat around the bush nan! imho with such limited time Q&A is a very inefficient to tell one's pd experience. i can watch a video of the "perfect" exam, i go to these events to listen to, and meet the experts and meet new people. glad the MJFF is doing these events. enuf said.

We are in British Columbia hiking, biking and fishing. We met with a friend from this forum in Calgary. It was a wonderful experience to "bring her to life". I was concerned that my balance may have deteriorated since last year and find that, although I am more cautious in the rivers, so far I have felt steady

I also find that the more engaged I am in the fishing or hiking, the less aware I am of PD, even to the point that I sometimes forget to take the meds a for a couple of hours.

We went to Yoho Natioal Park and hiked to the Burgess Shale, pre Cambrian fossil beds, a 22km round trip hike, hard for sure with quite an elevation gain, but with a lot of determination, I made the hike. PD gets in the way, but seldom stops me.

Time to grab a shower and go find fish (I hope!).

I have lost touch . Where are you and what is your destination?

West yellowstone. Will be here for two weeks, then to Picabo, ID until the end of Oct. might snow tonight!

I have just had a most amazing 69th birthday in Yellowstone Park. We parked at one of our favorite fishing spots and Doug stepped out to walk the dogs. He came dashing back, herding the dogs into the van. Less than 30' away was a wolf! It ambled through the area, oblivious to the camera sounds, swam across the river, shook himself and disappeared into the forest. I didn't catch any fish there but what a present!

I have decided that fly fishing is another dopamine releaser. Several times I have forgotten to take my Sinemet for two or more hours and then I realize I'm way off schedule. I hadn't biked for a week until this morning when, despairing of my ability to even bike at any cadence for an hour, I forced myself to try. I went for an hour at an average cadence of 80 and feel great.

More on the birthday. Each year I try to catch my birthday in inches of fish. Alas, this year I caught 53", far short of my age of 69. But it was a lovely day. Yesterday I caught 71" of fish, some in the bank for next year and this morning we saw another wolf! Totally unexpected, something we've never seen in this area of the park.

Have a great day.

Thanks for all the good wishes.

Oh dear i replied to the original post in a half awake state and then after noticed the date - cant delete but I can edit so - though the conversation has moved on this in response to a part of the original question now somewhat out of context.

Sorry Nan and birthday wishes to you.

Laura every country is different. This is the New Zealand approach - Green Prescriptions: Its been around for about 15 years and over 75% of doctors use them.

The health professional (GP or practice nurse) issues their patient with a Green Prescription (GRx), provided the patient’s medical condition is stable.
The script is either written or issued electronically, exercise pgme can include gym membership. If the patient wants ongoing support, the script is forwarded through to the nearest GRx Patient Support Person.
The Patient Support Person encourages the patient to become more active through:
monthly telephone calls for 3-4 months or;
face to face meetings for 3-4 months or;
group support in a community setting for 3-6 months.
The patient’s progress on their path to an active lifestyle is reported back to the referring health professional.
If the patient feels they would benefit from ongoing support, they are encouraged to ask their health professional for another GRx.

[QUOTE=Nan Cyclist;1102332]I have just had a most amazing 69th birthday in Yellowstone Park.


Happy Birthday Nan!

Ahhh. Parkinson's. The gift that keeps on giving. The night before we left on our trip, 7 weeks ago, I had a REM sleep behavior disorder dream. Such dreams are notable in that the dreamer acts out violence in some way or another. With medication, I seldom have REM dreams, but they are always memorable. This time I warded off "danger" by kicking. (We refer to these as Nanja Kicks.) I was on my right side so I kicked as hard as I could with my left foot, right into the wooden bedside set of drawers. It felt as though I had broken my foot, but with some massage and the help of a sleeping pill, I was able to finish out the night. For the last 7 weeks we have been either fishing or hiking nearly every day. The foot hurt but there was no time to deal with it and I pointed out to Doug that if the toes were broken, the doctor would probably just tape them together anyway. We returned Thurs. afternoon and as the toes are still swollen I went to have it checked out Friday. My middle toe is broken from the tip to the base but is healing nicely and there is nothing different to be done. The big toe already had some arthritis but I jammed it so fiercely that the arthritis is greatly accelerated and may need cortisone when I'm fed up with the pain...not yet. I learned that the best thing I can do for myself is to wear hiking boot type shoes, just like I have been doing on the whole trip! I assured the doctor that this would be a new story and it was for sure. (I moved the bedside furniture and bought new shoes with a harder toe and more toe room.) What next?!!

Hi Nan!

Sorry about your toe [s], but so glad that you had a happy birthday in Yellowstone!! I am a new member on "NeuroTalk"... my dad has Parkinson's Disease--showed up immediately after receiving a course of the antibiotic, Flagyl. He has now had what appears to be full blown Parkinson's Disease for a year and a half... It has been an extremely difficult path for him for some time now. I have only recently come upon information relative to the benefit of forced exercise via biking on Parkinson's Disease victims.
I am really excited to be an active participant on this blog!! I am seriously contemplating purchasing a Motomed Viva 2 Parkinson. It is an exercise bike made by Reck, a company in Germany. It has specific programs in it for various diseases/strokes, etc. Have you heard anything about this particular piece of equipment??? I would be very interested in any information since it is expensive and would be a major purchase for us to make...
He is currently taking Sinemet 25/100 2 to 3 times per day along with .75mg of Xanax 2 to 3 times per day. I do not know if this medication regime is the ultimate one for my dad; we don't get a great impression of the neurologist's input when we have visited...

may i ask where you live? there is a program called PEDALLING FOR PD at YMCA'S using spin bikes. i have no knowledge of that bike but i have been in a tandem forced exercise trial and spin classes and use a stationary recumbent at home. getting out of the house and socializing has it's own benefits as does other forms of exercise such as weight training, dance, tai chi.
if he's physically capable, i'd have your father try a spin bike or recumbent bike at a health club and see if he can work up to the suggested cadence / heart rate before spending a lot of money on a motorized bike.
how is your father doing on that drug regieme, the sinemet schedule sounds pretty typical for someone starting off, when qty is more important than careful timing timing.