 |
 |
Hi, I've been on this list serv for 5 or 6 years. My father has had Parkinson's for 7 or 8 years. He is 79 yrs. old. Over a year ago he got pneumonia (before which he was getting around fine, going on trips, working in the yard, etc.) but for months refused to do the physical therapy to get his strength back again...and his legs got weak so he could hardly walk at all...well, me and my step-mom finally got him on a low level serotonin uptake inhibitor (Lexapro) because the doctor said clinical depression could be causing his stubbornness about exercise (they said he could be fine and go home if he would push himself and exercise more) ... we also got him a personal trainer (3 days a week) The Lexapro definitely seems to be helping his outlook and he IS standing and walking a little bit now with a walker but he is only doing the minimal amount of exercise (he's in a rehab facility) If we tell him to do anything he acts like we're nagging (he was president of a company and is used to being the boss) Also, he's getting over the flu so he's a little weaker right now. They say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink but my question is this: How can we motivate him to do what he needs to do to get moving again? They said that if he would move around more and carry on with walking and exercise it would build his immune system so he'd be less likely to get pneumonia. I would appreciate any suggestions! Paul ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn