Weekly Check In Aug 17-23, 2008
 

Hi everyone..Its been a reasonably cooler week, somwhat cooler especially at night..Gasoline is slowly coming down..I got gas tonight for $3.52 per gallon

My cat, the diabetic, was acting strange Thusday afternoon..She kept walking around in circles, so I called the Vet, and got her right in there..Her blood sugar was 49, way too low..So the Vet gave her some sweet stuff to bring it up a bit, and told me to cut her insulin by 3 units per day..I bring her back on Tuesday to get her checked out again

I went clamming this morning, and did pretty good..I got 90 lbs, and was able to work a little longer than last time, and I didnt feel as fatigued today..I feel good about that..We'll see what happens next time

How was your week?

Cooler here too this week. Thursday my rottweiler returned home from a month away at the trainer learning to be a service dog. Yesterday I took him out in public for the first time. He acted like he has been doing this all his life. He is 130 lbs and helps me balance and to get up from sitting. It is interesting to see peoples reaction to him. Many are freightened
at first then they see him helping me and the fear melts away. I loved him before he went for training but it has just compounded with the assistance training. Besides he makes me feel safer.

cooler weather.......
 

:(:( not cooler here in the Pacific NorthWest.....its in the upper 90's....20-25 degrees above average for here this time of year, due to a high pressure system coming up from California....uh...thanks...Charlie :D


I can't believe how things have changed in a few years time....stamina...I washed my car the other day....thought I was going to drop in the driveway :thud:....and I planned this...not a spur of the moment thing....I chose early morning...cooler plus movement is better early in the day.....had taken my meds about an hour before...so I was "on"...had a chair close by so I could sit down and rest.....I was still exhausted when it was over with.

Been watching the olympics......Michael Phelps is amazing, isn't he!! Well I'm outta here.......looking forward to cooler weather next week!!!!!!!

Darrell; think of it as an opportunity to work on your tan!!!

RE: washing cars, I have acceded to taking mine to the car wash. I bought some mag wheel polish, but I do not think getting up and down is a particularly "fun-filled" endeavor for me so I guess I will bribe one of the kids to do it!

Charlie

good morning Steve and all:
 

Well as was previously mentioned we have had hot weather in the Pacific NW and adjoining areas....I'm just across the Canadian border where we refer to our area as the "lower mainland" as opposed to "the island"...Vancouver Island to be Specific. So that's the geography lesson for today.

Steve....what does it cost to keep a diabetic cat? Not that I'm planning to get one, but insulin etc is expensive. I love cats and would have one in a minute if it were not for the allergic reaction. Some cats don't bother me but..I'd have to go to the spca, borrow a cat for a day or two, then return it if I had a reaction, and do the whole thing over again. I'll just go lie down until the thought passes....:D

It's kinda quite around here. Your all probably wasted from forming the "Peoples Parkinsons Revolutionary Front" on what has to be the longest running thread in the history of Neurotalk. I was tempted to inject some thoughts on the monolithic nature of PD support in Canada, but didn't. If anyone wants to ask I'm sure a few of us could step up to the plate and give you a run down on the pro's and con's.

Well, thats it for me. Hope your all well.
:grouphug: cheers ...J

The insulin is not really the expense..Its the numerous trips to the Vet for blood sugar checks, etc..Every so often she has problems, and I have to take her in..She would regularly see the Vet every 2 months for routine blood sugar check, but it doesnt always work out that way..The insulin is $75, and I only have had to buy it twice in a little over a year..Blood sugar checks are $36, and she had a real bad problem a couple of months ago, and they had to keep her over night..That was over $200..The syringes are 10 for $6, and you can use the same needle for about 5 days..It gets a bit expensive sometimes, but shes still ticking and doing quite well

Hi Steve,

I hope your cat gets better. I've never had a diabetic cat, but I've had pets with various illnesses that we've kept alive for years rather than having them put down. It's sad when you think about it how the public in general treats the animal population. Most people are so quick with the shot or gas it's disgusting.

Anyway my week has been different. I've had to adjust my Sinemet time down to every 2-1/2 hours from 3 hours during they day, but I've noticed something. I need the 2-1/2 hours in the morning, but by the afternoon, the old 3 hour schedule works fine. Last night (well early this morning), I ended up taking some Parcopa to head off some stiffness that started. This was happening again even after taking the CR at night, which really worked well in the beginning. Anyway the Parcopa let me sleep another three hours before I had to get up. When I got up this morning, I felt refreshed and I wasn't stiff.

My class is over, oh thank you computer gods, let's hope I've passed! I hate Java programming. I just couldn't get the brain to absorb it. It went in one eye and out the other as I nodded off to sleep. If I didn't pass, well I'll need to take it again another time. My next class starts next Tuesday, so I have a full week to do what I want.

My piano playing has gone from really great to unsteady again, but hopefully my new med-schedule will work. I so hope not to lose this again because I've made great strides in maintaining my technique up to this point. My Mozart Piano Quartet No.1 in Gminor is coming along nicely, and I've recently started with Schubert's Trout Quintet. These are not with a live trio, but instead are the strings alone and I have to keep up. It's fun and a lot of work at the same time.

I'm glad you got outside in the cooler weather. This makes a big difference, I"ve found in how I feel overall. I thought about washing my car. In fact we have a pressure washer, but my energy level isn't there. On Saturday and Sunday I took two very long naps in the afternoon instead.

John

Hello :-)
 

This week has been busy so far. My mom in law came for a visit this past weekend. We had a really nice time just hanging out around the house and playing out back in the pool. It was 104 degrees here on Saturday and I was so glad to have the little pool to play in. It is only 12ft x 3ft and we had five people in it. It was really quite comical!

I had my interview for the CNA program on Monday. I think it went really well. The lady that interviewed me offered me a few compliments and left me feeling like my chances of being accepted into the program were pretty good. She said that if I am one of the ten that are selected for the class, I will get a phone call by Thursday at 2:00. If I don't get a phone call, that means I was not accepted and will have to try again next month. Then, the lady said, "I am not saying that YOU are not going to get a phone call." So, I will be waiting for the call...wish me luck!

My van that is eleven years old had to go to the shop to be repaired today. It was a bad bearing that cost us $329.00 to have fixed. I guess it's still better than a car payment every month, but we have already put a total of about $1800.00 into it this year. I just hope that it doesn't continue to nickel and dime us to death! I need it to last until I am able to get hired on at a hospital. Otherwise, we will be in trouble! Finances are tight for us right now...as is the case for many others I know.

Well, as far as this whole possible PD thing goes...I am trying not to allow it to be the main focus of my life. It is so easy to sit around and dwell on all the things that I feel and all of the things that I am experiencing with my body. But, this is the PD forum...so I will spill the beans. I had a doctor's appointment last week and it was upsetting. We discussed Sinemet, but he didn't recommend trying it at all. We increased my Zelapar to two a day after a long discussion that felt much like a Dr. Seuss book. It went something like this..."Well, you can take none, you can take one, you can take two. It is FDA approved for two. That is what I would recommend." As far as my Mirapex he said that I can take it every two hours, three hours, four hours...basically whatever works for me. He was very flippant about all of this. I think he is peeved because I am going to see an MDS that has taken quite a few of his other patients. Oh well...life's rough! A second opinion is my right. I told my doctor about the weird shaking that I experienced when I was camping. I described it like an upper body seizure, but not affecting my brain. He commented that we might not have answers for everything. Gee, that makes me feel better! He went on to say that if it happens more often I need to let him know. What happened next kind of freaked me out. My doctor had previously said that if I responded to PD meds he would be about 90% certain that that is what I have. I made a statement something like, "Well, I guess since I am responding to the PD meds, I probably do have PD." He said," Not Necessarily." I asked what else would respond to PD meds and he said that he didn't even want to speculate. Needless to say, I was pretty upset when I left. The good news is that the MDS that I was set up to see in December had a cancellation and I am going to be seen on November 24th. I am looking forward to it.

My wonderful Hubby has dinner all ready for me so I better run. Have a great rest of the week!

Evonne

Good luck with your CNA program, Evonne.

Your neuro sounds like a pip! The first guy I saw ignored the symptoms and said I had focal dystonia even though the Sinemet worked 100% the first time. It was like he made up his mind at the first visit. You are definitely entitled to a second opinion, so don't take this personally.

I'll pray for your car to hold up a little longer. My car is going on 9 years now and is beginning to have little snoogies once in a while that cost more and more to repair. It's paid for so I'm not complaining, but like you when the repair bills come in, they hurt!

John

Update on-going saga
 

I saw the the neuro-surgeon Monday and what a shocker. He also questions my pd diagnosis. How many is that now? This news does not surprise me anymore.

Following the examination by the neuro-surgeon his recommendation is two, possibly three immediate surgeries to just maintain what I have left. Things have progressed rather fast. I fell four times Monday, my left leg is swollen most the time, numb and buckles.

The operations in question will be explained further once I have another MRI Scan done on my neck. It seems the private one that I paid for was done on older, not the best, or up-to-date equipment. Ripped off again!

I had no strength and my self confidence was shot to hell again. All the work I have put into my recovery felt like it was for naught. I was right back to freezing and crawling around on all fours again.

I am angry that all three neurologists I saw dismissed my pain in my legs for years and my more recent facial numbness. I kept being told that I was under-medicated and up the meds.

My observation is that once you are diagnosed with pd everything is related back to it..............the pd box. This has to change. It must change. Not only is it physiologically damaging it can destroy your health. There must be a better way.

Not only do I not want to have any operations I am afraid to go into the hospital, 48 cases of SAAR'S has broken out this week and three elderly patients have died from this out-break. My girlfriends 17 year old granddaughter was admitted yesterday to another hospital with flesh eating disease. I don't know how she is doing, it is too terrifying to even think about it. Sorry for the downer post, under the circumstances I am down.

Bonnie