Diana, my wife seems to have the same problems as you described. She
is 64 and was diagnosed with PD in 1994. She does not have any tremor but has
the other typical problems of slow movement, difficulty getting up and down
from bed and chairs, inability to cut or stir when eating, etc. However the
worst problem is balance. She is now using a walker with 5" front wheels in
the house and when outside. She is normally safe in the walker, but falls
when trying to do activities without the walker such as moving from walker to
kitchen table chair, moving around in the close quarters of the bathroom,
moving from the walker to the car seat or trying to dress without assistance
and moving away from the walker. She broke a finger in a fall getting out of
the car, received 11 stitches in the top/rear of her head when falling into a
bookcase and received 7 staples in her head from falling into an end table.
I try to get her to move immediately from her walker to her electric lift
chair or to kitchen table chair, but sometimes she will stand motionless
trying to get her body to sit down. As you are doing, she used a cane,
particularly a quad cane for a while, but soon had to go to the walker
because she would start running with the cane and would fall trying to stop.
Fortunately, we have thick carpets and most falls are just bruises. She is
taking one 25/100 Sinemet five time per day. Her Neurologist has tried her
on all of the other Parkinsons medications but they really did not improve
her symptoms and most created other side affects.
I know you probably did not want to hear this, but I strongly
recommend the walker with wheels for a safer environment. I realize the cane
gives you more freedom but if you are beginning to fall, it will probably
only get worse. The wheels allow you to make turns without the stop / freeze
problem. The wheeled walkers come standard with 3" inline wheels, but I
recommend installing the 5" revolving wheels for outside use.
Gene
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