The Tin Man Tries for Gold, Wins with Silver

Back in May, I had a woman come talk to our Parkinson's Disease Support Group about the SilverSneakers® fitness program. There are no Parkinson's specific exercise programs available in our area. The extreme Summer temperatures were already here and most of us had stopped doing outdoor activities, including going for walks. I thought it might be a fun way for my group to keep active and socialize, and all in air-conditioned comfort. SilverSneakers® is a fitness program for older adults and is offered as a free benefit through many insurance programs. 

My hopes were dashed when the overly-enthusiastic instructor started talking about "cardio" and "squats" and "lifting weights." By the time she left, she had scared the daylights out of our mostly sedentary group, myself included. I should have gone and checked it out, but I was afraid of falling or getting hurt. Trust me, there is nothing humorous about getting hurt when you have Parkinson's.  

In late August, I met an older lady at the Post Office. She asked if she could go ahead of me in line, because she was late for her SilverSneakers® class. She was using a walker and moving very carefully. Curiosity got the best of me and I asked how the classes were? She said they were great and she did the entire class sitting down. She proceeded to brag that she was the oldest in class, at 89!

Between the Summer heat and my foot problems, I'd

Parkie Tin Man Carl Ames

been too inactive. My Parkinson's riddled body was beginning to feel like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz; rusty and badly in need of lubrication. I decided to get some class info. It was a benefit of my insurance, and I could use all the facilities for free, not just the classes. My Wonderful Husband went with me to the first class.



Sarah, the instructor (not the one who came and talked to our group) told us to do whatever we felt comfortable doing. If you need to sit; sit. If you start to feel pain; stop. She said there was only one rule: You must keep breathing! No one was allowed to stop breathing in her class. This made the others laugh. 

As it turns out, the "cardio" is moving our feet to music. Similar to basic line dancing steps. The "squats" are done hovering over a chair, not squatting down by the floor and the "weights" are optional and start at one pound. We do stretches and balance exercises. We squeeze rubber balls or toss them in the air and try to catch them. We alternate between sitting and standing. We concentrate on different areas of the body on different days, but always move our whole body every class. The various movements change as well as the music, so each class is different and doesn't get boring. 

So, we started. I was in the back row, right next to the 89-year old from the Post Office. It only took a few minutes to realize I have two left feet. What happened to the Disco Queen of bygone years? I kept tripping over my own feet! When she added arm movements to the footwork, I found I could NOT do both. I found myself holding on to the chair for balance and I sat frequently. But I made it through the entire class! NO ONE cared that I was slow, stumbling or sat down! The others were encouraging and friendly (even though I was obviously the youngest one there, except for the instructor).

Here is a video of me I made after the first class:

Classes are three days a week and I haven't missed one yet. My Wonderful Husband decided he'd rather do the more strenuous pool exercises, so he goes his way and I go mine and we meet up after.

After a few weeks of classes, my rusty Tin Man body is feeling much better. Sure, I had a few muscle aches at first, but at least I KNEW what caused them. It is much easier for me to get up from sitting. I am standing up straighter. The biggest improvement has been in my balance! Watch my after video:

All in all, I'd say I was definitely a WINNER! I've got golden hair, silver sneakers and bronze skin to go with my Tin Man body! 

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To find a SilverSneakers®class near you, visit their website: https://www.silversneakers.com/


To watch all my videos, visit my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ParkinsonsHumor

Leaves: Leave Me Alone

There are many reasons we chose Yuma, Arizona, to be our home: warm Winters, 360+ days of sunshine, low humidity, no mosquitoes, and a supposedly maintenance free yard. Some people attempt to grow grass, others plant oleanders, bougainvilleas, and other non-native shrubs. They plant both native and non-native trees. Some make their yards look like a tropical jungle, filled with flowering plants, trees and shrubs. We, however, have taken maintenance free to an extreme. We have plants that require almost no pruning or trimming. Our total landscaping package consists of three golden barrel cactus and three agave plants. That's it! No bushes, shrubs or trees. We decorate with unique rocks and ceramic pots instead.

My front yard

So, how is it that EVERY day, I am outside filling up bags with leaves? It is Summer, not Fall, there shouldn't be ANY leaves in my yard, and yet, every morning and evening it's the same: leaves, leaves and more leaves.

This is just a weeks worth of leaves

The answer is simple: Wind and Winter Visitors. 

Most of my neighbors are only here from October until April and while they are here, they meticulously take care of their yards. They trim their bushes and vacuum up the leaves. During those months, the wind blows from the North; away from my home.

But after they leave for the Summer, the wind changes and blows in from the South. All the leaves from their shrubs, bushes, plants and trees, which grow like crazy while they are gone, end up being carried by the wind to the Northeast corner of our subdivision and right into my front yard.

Where all the leaves come from

So, every morning and evening, I go out and pick up leaves. I am lucky that they tend to collect in the gas and water line access cut-outs in the concrete and in the corner by the wall. 

I always wear thick gloves when picking up these leaves. Why? Well, first of all, some of the leaves have thorns, but the main reason is... 

you never know what might be hiding in the leaves! 

I should be furious, but I am not. I've been picking up leaves at least twice a day for a couple of months now and have noticed that my ability to bend over, to get back up from squatting, and my balance has improved. 

Does that mean I enjoy picking up everyone else's yard trash? NO! 

It just means I've found a silver lining in an otherwise unpleasant task if you live in Yuma, Arizona, year round. 

Parkinson's Disease; Fall in Winter

A few weeks ago, my Wonderful Husband and I were sitting on our back patio when we spotted something large and orange in the desert behind our house. We sat there trying to figure out what it was. We came up with some humorous possibilities, such as a discarded prison jumpsuit, or an inflatable Halloween pumpkin or perhaps a child's swimming pool. Whatever it was, we decided to go get it and put it in the trash. 

I was extra careful climbing over our low back wall and my Wonderful Husband held my hand as we negotiated a steep ditch created by runoff water. All that was left was a very shallow secondary ditch. The next thing I know, I was lying in the sand and my glasses were a few feet away. 

The steep ditch

The shallow ditch 

I was okay; I just had some scrapes on my leg and the palm of my hand, but my glasses weren't damaged. I was achy for a few days, but at least I fell in soft sand and not into rocks or on gravel. But why did I fall?

I've been replaying the fall over and over in my head; there was nothing for me to trip over and I was watching what I was doing, so how did I end up in the sand? The answer I have come up with is ... brake failure. 

Yes, brake failure.

It seems that if I get some forward momentum, I can't stop! Since the fall, I've noticed that if I step off a curb, due to the forward momentum, it takes a few extra steps before my gait returns to normal. The same thing happens if I walk down an incline. I have trouble stopping. No brakes! 

So, that's what happened when I tried to navigate the shallow ditch; my brakes didn't work and I fell forward into the sand. Now that I realize my brakes don't work, I adjust how I handle steep driveways, curbs and ditches. 

The large orange thing out in the desert? Yes, we went ahead and got it. It was a section of temporary construction fencing that probably got swept away in a rainstorm. We untangled it and put it in our trash. Just because I took a tumble, didn't mean we shouldn't pick it up, right?

DBS: Two Years Ago, I Let Them Drill Holes in my Head

Today is October 18, 2014. Two years ago, I was lying in a hospital bed with a headache. My hair was matted with a combination of surgical disinfectant and blood and I was hooked up to so many monitoring wires, I felt like NASA should be in control.

YumaBev Oct 18, 1012

Dr. Norton had just finished drilling holes in my head and inserting the DBS stems for Part One of my DBS surgery. My Wonderful Husband looked relieved; it had been a nerve wracking wait for him. I was hungry, but my stomach was upset, probably a side effect of the anesthesia. I vaguely remember the nurse bringing me some crackers. 

I remember calling Jim Adams and telling him to go ahead and post on Facebook and Twitter that all had gone well. 

Well, here it is, two years later and what are my results now?

I haven't had a foot cramp since right before the surgery two years ago. I take much less Parkinson's medications and the medication related dyskenisia is gone. I sleep a lot longer. My tremors, what little I had, are pretty much gone. The same can be said about the slowness of movement. If I sit for too long, the rigidity comes back, but quickly disappears. In other words, all that was promised by Medtronic has happened.

Fatigue is a major problem and can come on quite suddenly. My speech has been adversely affected, both in volume and clarity. However, I seem to have no problems when I use a microphone, such as when speaking at our local Parkinson's support group. My upper lip still curls into an ugly sneer.

I have noticed that my balance isn't what it used to be. I do okay walking forward, but climbing steps or bending to pick items up can be a little scary and I often have trouble maintaining my balance when I get up from sitting. We have rearranged the bedroom, so that I have something to grab onto when I get out of bed.

My handwriting has gotten much worse, I can't write anything readable. This makes me frustrated, because I can't even make out a grocery list.

Handwriting before DBS

Handwriting after DBS

I am still having some time and memory problems and get easily distracted. I like to laugh and joke and sometimes I come up with a funny story idea for this blog, but by the time I get to the computer, it is gone. I don't spend as much time online anymore. If I sit at the computer too long, it aggravates a neck/shoulder problem from the cancer surgery. On a positive note, my second, post breast cancer mammogram came back negative, so that's good news! 

I am looking forward to speaking to the Medical School students next month and hope to have more chances to speak to people with Parkinson's as well as educating others about this disease. I'm looking forward to friends and neighbors returning to Yuma for the Winter. Have a Happy Parkie Day! 

Don't Fall for Me

Falling in love is great, falling asleep is good (unless you are driving) and falling down is bad, very bad. I wish I could write this story with my usual humor, but I can't. You see, Parkinson's disease related falls can have serious and sometimes deadly outcomes. 

Several of my neighbors have fallen in the last year and many of my Parky friends have fallen as well and for some of them, their falls proved fatal. Even my Wonderful Husband took a tumble about six months ago and still has a discolored knee to remind him to be careful. So far, I have remained upright, but I am overly cautious.

Some of the things I do to prevent myself from falling probably look funny to whoever sees me doing them, but I don't care. I always sit down to put on or take off my shoes and socks, always, even if it means sitting on a curb to remove the giant "grain of salt" sized pebble that is stabbing me in my foot as I walk with George and Freida in the mornings. Yes, I can probably still balance on one foot and do it standing up, but why take a chance on breaking my arm?

Broken arm

I sit on a chair or lean my backside up against a wall to take off or put on my shorts or jeans. Always, even in winter when the wall is cold (that will wake you up real quick). 

Chair next to closet

I take extra care when stepping up curbs, walking on uneven surfaces and navigating steps. I have tried my best to "fall proof" our home. I only use the walk-in shower which has grab rails and seating, no more tubs for me. Fancy throw rugs are history, to easy to stumble on. Even the height of our bed is designed to make it easy for me to get in and out of. There is a shelf in the garage and another one right inside the entry door, where I can set my packages so I don't try to come in the door with both hands full. 

A few Parkies I know haven't been so lucky; one has fallen multiple times, in her bathroom, because her feet and walker get tangled in the rug on the floor. Get rid of the rug, I said. But she won't. Why? Because it matches the shower curtain, towels and window coverings and it looks pretty. 

Another one has fallen both up and down her entry steps when she tries to take her two dogs out for a walk, she gets tangled in their leashes. I told her to have her son build a little fenced in area, right outside the door, so she can let the dogs go out by themselves, and then she can come down the steps, holding on to the railing, sit on a chair, put the leashes on the dogs and take them on their walk. Has she? Nope, she doesn't want to bother her son. 

Foot in a cast

Another one tried to climb up into his truck with both hands full, fell over backward and ended up with a huge knot on the back of his head and a dozen smashed eggs. All he had to do was open the other door and put the packages on the passenger seat and then his hands would have been empty. 

Why are these folks so stubborn? I don't know. If I woke up blind tomorrow morning, I wouldn't jump in my car and try to drive. I wake up every morning with Parkinson's, that's the reality. So, I sit on the side of the bed and make sure my legs are going to work before I head for the bathroom. I don't want to fall and I will do everything I can to prevent it. 

Shirley is a very good Parky friend of mine, and as her Dad was losing his battle with Parkinson's (he, too, had taken a few falls), she asked me to write a song about Angels. I wrote Angels in the Corner about a girl who was feeling hopeless, and then suddenly realized, that her Angels were in the corner, as always, watching over her, and that everything would be alright. Shirley's Dad is now one of HER Angels. 

I have plenty of Angels in MY corner, watching over me, so be careful. Please don't fall, for me.

In memory of my most recent Angels: Jim, David and Dick.

You can find all my videos on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ParkinsonsHumor

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