Thanks for the travelogue.  Perhaps someday when it's sufficiently far in
the past, I could write about a two week trailer trip in the heat of
Yucatan with a Parkie!

Miriam L. Denham
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On Thu, 20 Jun 1996, J. McHutchison wrote:

> I felt the need to write a brief (??) note, and let everyone know that
> we have survived our vacation.  I hadn't mentioned that we were going
> anywhere, because if my parents were found wandering along interstate
> 95, I didn't want to have anyone trace them to me!
>
> My husband (bless him!!) agreed to taking my parents on a nearly 2-week
> vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. . . a wonderful family
> vacation spot, and one my family has visited for nearly 30 years.
>
> Two weeks ago tomorrow, we drove from home, here in New Jersey to their
> home in Pennsylvania -- about a 3 1/2 hour drive.  We loaded our rented
> mini-van (good idea!  our pickup truck would have been far too crowded,
> and Mom would have objected to riding in the truck bed!), and early the
> next morning we started on our adventure.
>
> In an attempt to adjust to Mom and Dad's lifestyle, we planned
> sit-down be-waited on meals.  Dad (68/4+) eats very slowly, and by
> dinnertime was becoming increasingly frustrated with everyone.  Next
> time I think we'll do meals "our" way.  My husband and I tend to grab a
> burger, gulp it down, quick bathroom trip, and back on the road in 15
> minutes, not the 1 1/2 hour that it took for the sit-down meals.
>
> Lesson #1.  Do not attempt to travel more than 8 hours in a mini-van
> with one's husband, mother, and father.  Regardless of who has PD (if
> anyone), this is not a recommended practice.  By the eleventh hour, you
> will wonder if it is possible to commit homicide with the package of
> saltines that were kept from lunchtime "just in case we get hungry along
> the way".
>
> We checked into the hotel some 15 hours after we left their home.
>
> Lesson #2.  Inquire early about the availability of ground floor /
> handicapped rooms.  We had, and it worked out well.  Mom and Dad were
> beachfront, and able to walk out from their "porch" onto the sand.  We
> were on the 4th floor.
>
> Lesson #3.  Besides the obvious reasons mentioned before, 15 hours in
> the car will have detrimental effects on the behaviors of the PD
> patient.  Dad had a very bad night after the trip.  It took him a day or
> two to settle down, and back to a more normal routine.
>
> Lesson #4.  (At least in the case of my dad.)  Pack plenty of snacks.
> Since he was waking up at 4 in the morning, he figured that he might as
> well do something productive.  Like eat.  He devoured the bag of potato
> chips one morning.  Mom could hear him while she tried to sleep, and
> figured that as long as she could hear the crunching, he was safe.
>
> We rented our beach umbrellas and chairs from the friendly lifeguard,
> and spent our mornings warming our frozen bodies (remember 3 feet of
> snow in January?).  Afternoons, while Mom and Dad rested or sunned, my
> husband and I trotted around the golf courses.
>
> Lesson #5.  June afternoons are almost too warm to play golf in South
> Carolina, but with plenty of water, it's possible to have a good time
> anyway.
>
> Most evenings, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and took Mom and
> Dad with us to dinner.  Evenings are not Dad's best times, but he
> enjoyed his dinners, as did the rest of us.
>
> A couple of evenings we even wandered some of the local shopping
> establishments, with Dad walking around fairly well.
>
> Lesson #6.  Set realistic expectations for the day.
>
> We split the trip home (to Mom & Dad's) into two days.  (See Lesson #1
> for why.)
>
> We got Mom and Dad settled in their home yesterday, and then came the
> rest of the way to our house today.
>
> All in all, it was a good trip.  Concessions on both sides, but we've
> all agreed that we would consider doing it again.  That's an
> accomplishment, to my mind!
>
> ------------------------------------------
> Now, a couple of questions. . . .since I saw more of Dad in the past 2
> weeks than I had in the past couple of years.
>
> 1.  Dad walked quite well on the beach, both the hard sand, and the
> softer stuff.  He didn't manage too well down by the water's edge.  The
> shifting sands, and the movement of the waves seemed to be very
> disconcerting.  Is this common?
>
> 2.  Dad's always been a snacker, but lately it seems he's trying to eat
> them out of house and home.  He's not heavy (160 lbs, on a 6'3" frame).
>  He's taking Sinemet and Vitamin E, with a minimal dose of Permax.
> Would any of these contribute to the munchies?
>
> 3.  He seems to have some significant depth perception problems.  For
> example, his ice cream was served in a footed dish.  He struggled to eat
> it until it was transferred into a low bowl.  He does wear bifocals,
> that Mom constantly reminds him to push up, but they didn't seem to be
> helping that night.  Could it be his posture, combined with the
> bifocals?  Even as I type that, though, I think he has the perception
> problems without any glasses on.
>
> ------------------
> He's off tomorrow for a day of testing.  It seems that his blood
> pressure drops significantly when he stands up, and they're now thinking
> that is the reason he looses his balance (he's getting light-headed).
> Maybe something will come from these tests that will help him with his
> stability, and will give my Mom some peace.
>
> Well, hope our travel lessons will benefit someone else, and that there
> might be some answers to my questions floating out there on the net.
> Thanks for putting up with this long post.
>
>         Diane McHutchison
>         [log in to unmask]
>