In reporting “Counter Punch” I uncovered nuggets of invaluable information about managing my PD. The book, by the way, is in my body shop for rewrite. Basic information is the same. It demands more personalized storytelling.
In Fall 2016 my PD dealt me a wicked blow. My autonomic (involuntary) nervous system collapsed. Drinking water constantly (polydipsia), peeing incessantly (polyuria), hot flashes, spacial disorientation, equilibrium and balance kaput, further loss of touch and feel in hands. A nightmare.
It took nine months of hard work to recover. Personal trainer Jordan Brannon and Physical Therapist (Mad) Matt Lazinski pulled me through. By September 2017 I was better than new.
In the midst of my ANS horrors, I sold my precious Taylor Made golf clubs. I had wrongly assumed I would never recover my lost equilibrium and balance.
Wrong call.
I can again swing a club without falling over. Fortunately I have an earlier set I can use for fiddling around on a three-hole course at our new home in Macon GA.
My reading had not prepared me for this sharp, upward turn of events. After all, what about that chart of symptom severity that strongly suggested the disease course would be lockstep down?
Dr. Jim Davison, my Tampa medical Sherpa And drinking buddy set me straight over a beer-or-three.
“A chronic disease of almost any kind never moves in a straight line,” he counseled. “There are inevitable peaks and valleys. You crashed in 2016. You more than fully recovered in 2017. Expect those variations to continue.”
Aargh! Flash of light! Mystery explained!
Same thing happened to my Parkie Buddy Jerry Iwerks. Through a diligent exercise program he moved from so-called Stage 3 Symptoms to Stage 1.
Remember these wise words:
“When people describe Parkinson’s disease, they often define it as a disease that is incurable and without treatment to slow its progression,” says Dr. Peter Schmidt, chief research and clinical officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “You can change how Parkinson’s affects you, but it takes hard work and dedication.”
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