Thanks, Janet, for reposting George's gem's. As a newcomer to this list of PWP, I
especially needed the humor this a.m.  Cheers,  Brenda


janet paterson wrote:

> >>> Posting number 42282
> Date:         Thu, 28 May 1998 13:21:13 EDT
> From:         Janet Paterson
> Subject:      gems from george - 1 of 2
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Date:         97/02/18
> From:         George Lussier
> Subject:      [HUMOR HERE] STUFF.
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear serious reader,
>
> Very early evening February 18, 1997
>
> Among the little items I picked up during my 14-15 year career with PD is a
> pair of very tight, weak  and poorly toned Quadriceps You know which muscle
> that is? Yes that's right. It's the large extensor muscle in the front of the
> thigh that in fact is made up of 4 muscles. Do you know which muscles they
> are? The Rectus femoris,the Vastus externus, the Vastus internus and the
> Crureus?  Yes, Thats right. Very good!
>
> I'm a walker by nature. Grew up in Boston and didn't get my drivers license
> until I was 23.I could walk anywhere I needed to go. Life was good ...... And
> then along came the BIG PD. At first it wasn't too bad only restricting my
> mileage. And then slowly but surely it began to run my walking [weak pun
> there]. I lost my ability to walk a straight line, my fluidity was run down as
> was my energy. Eventually I had to use a crutch and that just about concluded
> my walking life. Freezing  episodes became common place.
>
> For those of you who do not know me I'm a veteran of two Pallidotomies. The
> right brain was done in August of '95:the left brain September of '96.Prior to
> the surgeries I was Neurologically a basket case. I was experiencing multiple
> freezing episodes, the meds were not working, dyskinesia controlled my days
> and nights. I was generally unable to walk..... But I had an excellent surgeon
> and the results were very positive.  My walking improved a great deal and I
> don't believe that I've plateaued yet.
>
> I used to joke with my care providers about my ability to walk backward. It
> seemed by doing something different it, at least for a while, tricked my
> system into behaving normally. Eventually  this too faded into nothingness
>
> One day recently on something of a lark I decided to walk backward for a bit .
> At that time I was walking about a mile a day although my Quads were extremely
> tight and were responsible for the clenching that  drove my toes wild.
>
> I found my answer for these two problems by WALKING BACKWARDS. As of today I'm
> walking 2 miles a day,about half of it BACKWARDS and not only have my Quads
> loosened up but I can feel the strength returning to my legs. It does not ,at
> least for the next little while, matter why this is true. SO........
>
> The BENEFITS of WALKING BACKWARD     BY G.J. Lussier
>
> *  You will increase your lung capacity.
>
> *  You will restore your normal deep breathing.
>
> *  You will improve on your sense of balance.
>
> *  You will  be able to relax, strengthen, tone and stretch your Quads.
>
> *  You will  be able to interrupt the toe clenching/cramping process by virtue
> of the fact that in order to step BACKWARDS the foot needs to be able to
> extend its toes whereas with a forward step the toes tend to work in a
> downward pattern
>
> *  you will be able to go for walks with friends and have face to face
> conversations with them as long as one of you  agrees  to walk forward.
>
> *  you will enjoy the adulation of the people who stop and watch as you and
> your BACKWARD WALKING friends ambulate on by.
>
> *  You will develop a thick skin to deal with those who will shun you
>
> *  You will marvel at your developing skills in avoiding falling into giant
> pot holes, avoiding speeding cars, turning corners at a high rate of speed and
> other stuff.
>
> *  AND MOST OF ALL YOU WILL BE PLEASED THAT YOU TRIED SOMETHING A LITTLE OFF
> THE BEATEN PATH. THAT YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN UP ON YOURSELF. THAT THERE IS STILL
> SOME SENSE OF PRIDE,OF ADVENTURE, OF DETERMINATION AND OF SELF DETERMINATION
>
> ****** OBVIOUSLY THIS ACTIVITY IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. INDIVIDUALS WITH BALANCE
> PROBLEMS OR THOSE WHO LIVE IN POT HOLE INFESTED AREAS SHOULD FIND OTHER
> SUITABLE ACTIVITY.
>
> If you have a situation which you can find no activity please feel free to
> email me and perhaps I can think of some that is off the beaten path.
>
> NOTE !  Do not try WALKING BACKWARDS on your own or with that group of
> doubters you hang with. Only WALK BACKWARDS under the direct supervision of a
> trained and licensed BACKWARD WALKING professional. Training classes in
> WALKING BACKWARDS are offerred daily at the LUSSIER SCHOOL of BACKWARD
> WALKING.
>
> [LSBW] The LUSSIER SCHOOL of PROFESSIONAL - CERTIFIED - LICENSED - BACKWARDS
> WALKING INSTRUCTORS AND SUPERVISORS [LSPCLBWIS] offers low cost, residental 3
> year training programs specializing in The GERIATRIC BACKWARD WALKER and
> BACKWARD WALKERS FOR CLINTON.
>
> NOTE !  Visit the LUSSIER HABERDASHERY AND GEORGE'S FISH AND CHIPS EMPORIUM.
> Eat while you try on a vast collection of sweat pants,T-shirts,sweat shirts
> and fake feet belonging to a clown.
>
> Just imagine yourself strutting down the street BACKWARDS wearing our no-need-
> to-ever-wash sweat shirts with clever saying written on the back/front such
> as"I know where I've been but I don't know where I Going" or "The future is
> back a way" or "ONE GAINT STEP BACKWARDS FOR MAN KIND and WOMAN KIND" or
> "Maybe I don't know where I'm going but neither do you [know were I'm going
> that is]"
>
> Just picture yourself wearing the fake clown's feet ..... No one will know
> where you are going!{Not recommended for people suffering from severe
> Obsessive-Compulsive disorders].
>
> Humbly,
> george
>
> AMAZING GRACE
> Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
> That saved a wretch like me
> I once was lost, but now I'm found
> Was blind, but now I see
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Date:        97/02/19
> From:        Lena Holmes
> Subject:     Re: About models, facts and strange PD phenomena-Walking Backwards
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 01:18 PM 2/19/97 -0500, Ida wrote:
> >George Lussier wrote yesterday about one of those incomprehensible
> >can's and can't's that are typical for PD. Nobody really understands
> >these phenomena. I remember how strange it was, being very tense and
> >not able to relax, as  soon as I walked backwards or downstairs,
> >I immediately felt normal.
>
> George & Ida,
>
> my mother is in a wheelchair. The nursing home in which she lives has a hall
> walking program after lunch, in which she sometimes participates. She does so
> by propelling her chair BACKWARDS down the hall. Is this a co-incidence? OR
> meaningful?
>
> And George, your note was both serious and wonderfully humourous.
>
> Thanks ............ Lena
>
> Lena Holmes
> parttime caregiver for Ilmi 74/2
> Oakville, Ontario, Canada
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Date:         97/02/20
> From:         George Lussier
> Subject:      HERE SHE COMES BACKWARDS!! WEEEEEEE!
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> DEAR LENA,
>
> Let me say at the very beginning that I think your mom is a cheat and .. WATCH
> IT! HERE SHE COMES AGAIN. WEEEEEEEEEEEE! and should lose her license to drive
> her wheelchair until she has passed both the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! GOSH, THAT WAS
> CLOSE!! the written and the on-the-road.. er on-the-hallway test.
>
> She should be ashamed of herself for using a wheelchair in a walking program;
> yes you said a walking program.
>
> IT"S TOO QUIET OUT THERE. SHE'S UP TO NO GOOD. WATCH IT!! THERE ARE TWO OF
> THEM THIS TIME  Wheelie #1 .. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  wheelie #2  yipeeeeeeeeeeeee!
>
> See what I mean Lena, she is terrorizing the other residents. Well, Gerrge.
> THATS GEORGE!!  ok, g e o r g e, I just wanted to say that mom is having such
> a wonderful time..
>
> ....... DOWN THE HALL, IN THE DARKENED DAY ROOM, OUT OF SIGHT OF THE STAFF,
> LENA AND GEORGE; A PLAN IS BEING DEVELOPED. LENA'S MOM APPEARS TO BE THE RING-
> LEADER AND SHE IS DEPLOYING THE 25-30 WHEELIES TO THEIR ASSIGNED BATTLE
> STATIONS WITH THE PRIME SITES TO BE SECURED BEING THE KITCHEN AND THE NURSES
> STATION [NO PROBLEM THERE...NEVER ANY ONE IN THERE ANYWAY]
>
> Co-incidence? I don't think so. It seems to me that nursing homes are failing
> in their jobs and until they receive a passing grade from residents revolts
> like the one detailed above will continue to rock the nursing home industry.
>
> Meaningful? Certainly in severals ways. First elderly people are often
> regressive [Or said another way, BACKWARDS] in ther behaviors. There is
> comfort in being regressed. Regression is simplely defined as a stepping
> backwards in time to a more satisfying, less anxious place which to most of us
> would be at the PRECONCEPTION stage of development! In other word the "gleam
> in your father-to-be's eyes"
>
> Second, the concept of BACKWARD serves as a metaphor for the average nursing
> home.
>
> Third, it is fun to do something differently then the others around you. Most
> nursing home  residents haven't been successful at much of anything; least of
> all something different.
>
> Fourth I do believe when we do something differently, the Central Nervous
> System responds with an excitement it hasn't known for many moons.Too many
> people misunderstand this feeling as one of anxiety rather then of excitement.
> The CNS has shut down. It no longer recoginizes positive feelings. The cure
> ....... repeated jolts of new experiences that will help the brain restore
> itself within a feeling,loving, fun person, who is also able to express
> feeling of sadness and anger when required
>
> Fifth... i think you get my point.
>
> How do I know these things to be true? well I am a well trained, experienced
> clinical social worker and my mom spent the last two years of her life in what
> was regarded as a quality nursing home but as many of you know it surely
> lacked something.........
>
> Lena, thanks for your kind words and thank for coming out and playing with me
> [Regression in the service of the ego is cool].
>
> My best to most of you [OPS]
>
> george
> 2/20/97
> 3:38pm Bright and sunny, temp.41 F.
> Time to walk BACKWARDS
>
> AMAZING GRACE
> Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
> That saved a wretch like me
> I once was lost, but now I'm found
> Was blind, but now I see
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> janet paterson
> 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset
> e-mail - [log in to unmask]
> web-site -  http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/