Day Two of my Vacation from Parkinson's Disease

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012, Day Two of my vacation from Parkinson's Disease started at 6:40 am, when leg cramps jolted me awake (I guess they didn't get the NO PD memo). I did my usual morning stuff and we picked Lynn up at her hotel at 10 am and headed for Algodones, a little Mexico border town about 10 miles from Yuma, AZ. (IF you are lost, read Day One of my Vacation )

future Rodeo star?

Lynn wanted to look for a new purse, some medicine and jewelry (all available at bargain prices).   As we started across the border, my left foot decided to cramp (I guess it didn't get the NO PD memo either).  I figured we'd be out of there by noon, I was wrong. At 2 pm, we found a bakery and had jumbo fresh baked cinnamon rolls for 70 cents each. The only picture I took was a humorous one of a little boy riding a dog.  It was too crowded to take pictures of her shopping so I found places to sit as Lynn and her Dad shopped.  


We wandered around and around and Lynn got right into the bargaining spirit that is the way of life in Mexico.  She happily scored a real leather purse, several bracelets and some very nice necklaces for "better than cheap stuff at Walmart" prices and picked up some gifts for friends back at home in Orlando. She bought some antibiotics for her dog and some fancy face cream for herself and her Dad picked up a bottle of Kahlua for a neighbor.  It was 4 pm and we decided to leave.    

Step-daughter Lynn in Mexico

Oops, there was a line to get back through the Border and it was FOUR blocks long.  We stood in line, well, honestly, Lynn and her Dad stood in line. I would find a bench up ahead and sit down and wait for them to catch up to me and then repeat the process. Most of the people in line had gray hair and were giving me funny looks as I sat, but I didn't care.  It took 2 hours to get out of Mexico. Lynn posed on a bench and let me take an official picture of her in Mexico.  


After we finally got back to the USA, we took Lynn to Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que for dinner and then came back to the house.  We sat around and visited until 11 pm when we took her back to the hotel.


I had survived Day Two of my Parkinson's vacation (kind of).

Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!

Parkinson's Disease and My Foot

My left foot goes crazy almost every day around noon.  If I'm walking across a parking lot at the time, it can be a problem.  When it happens, it's called dystonia by the Parkinson's Disease Doctors, I just call it cramps. (read my Parkinson's Lingo story)

Just toes or whole foot

Sometimes my whole foot tries to turn itself inside out and other times, just my toes curl under.  The cramping itself isn't very painful, but my foot doing somersaults inside a shoe is, and trying to walk on it is extremely painful, even barefoot.  I usually try to sit down and wait it out.  If I catch it soon enough, I can sometimes stand on my tippy-toes and stretch it out or place my bare foot on the cold tile floor (which distracts my brain) and make it go away sooner.  

Little feet, big slippers

I have a hard time getting my shoe off my foot.  I am trying to balance on one leg and wrangle a distorted foot out of the shoe. For that reason, I wear oversize boot-type slippers around the house.  My feet are small and yet I wear big slippers that make me look like Big Foot.  I keep telling you that you've got to have a sense of humor to survive Parkinson's Disease.

Clicking on a picture enlarges it

Most of my Parkie friends get similar cramps.  If they happen first thing in the morning, it's most likely because our brain has run out of medicine while we were sleeping.  I used to get painful leg cramps that would jerk me awake.  I ended those by taking my last dose of medicine later and doing specific stretches right before bedtime.  I also increased my intake of potassium rich foods.  

The foot cramps I get now are most likely caused by too much medicine in one side of my brain.  I have Parkinson's Disease symptoms on both sides of my body, but my left side is the least affected and therefore, the muscles get over-stimulated and my foot cramps. 

Most of you know, by now, that I like to write song parodies (read I Re-write the Songs  ) so, of course, I wrote a song about my foot cramps. It's called The Bendy Toe Blues and clicking on the > below will play it for you. Enjoy!

You can find all my videos on my YouTube channel:

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

Clicking on colored words will open a new window and take you to a different story or link.


Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!