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>---------- >> Fra: Audrey Mansfield <[log in to unmask]> >> Til: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]> >> Emne: New member/ Tips on working with PD >> Dato: 11. maj 1997 03:08 >> >> I am new to the group. I would like to say hello and to tell you how >> wonderful it is to have found you. >> I still work full time which is 36+ hours a week in 4 days. I work with >> large and small groups of students helping them learn accounting in a >> community college. A co worker drives me to work and back each day. >> I am so tired at the end of the day that I am afraid to drive. >> >> Does anyone else in the group with PD work full time. If so, do you have >> any tips that may enable me to continue to work for as long as possible. >> Any ideas would be appreciated. Hello Audrey, Welcome to the group. Yes, I still work full time, even though I was off on sick leave for 5 months last year. I'm a reference librarian in a large, metropolitan city (Fort Lauderdale) in Florida. I'll tell you what works for me. First you have to find what really causes you stress, your job, home , travel or whatever. Then you need to see about eliminating as much of the stress as possible. I hired a cleaning woman who comes in bi-weekly, and once a year I hire someone to come in and clean all my windows and clean the carpets. My Husband has been retired for 6 years, but he also suffers from diabetes, and besides , when he retired he said he didn't retire to become a house husband. So by hiring these things done, it saves a lot of stress for both of us. Second, you have to learn to live with your fatigue~~~it's not going to go away, unfortunately. Sometimes a 15 minute nap in the lounge chair, when you first come home from work,will enable you to get up refreshed. I always drink a glass of fruit juice when I first get home. It seems to dull the fatigue some. We eat out at least 2 X's per week and sometimes more. With the Senior Citizens discounts they have down here, it really doesn't break the budget , and it saves the evening for me to quilt. Three: Save some time and energy to do something you like to do. The best advice my Neurologist ever gave me was, when I wake up a 3 a.m. wide awake~~get up and do something constructive for yourself. Most of my quilts and quilted vests are finished at 4:30 in the mornings. I'm lucky that I work 10-6 so I don't have to get up really early, except we have two Doxies, who refuse to let me oversleep. Four: Learn to pace yourself. You just can't do as much as you could before, so don't try to fool yourself into thinking that you can. Also learn to say "NO". There are too many unnecessary things people seem to feel compelled to do. Don't fall into that trap. Fifth: Accept the fact that some days are going to be what librarians refer to as "full moon" days. Everything goes wrong, all the nuts come out, and you end up wondering why you ever got out of bed. Unfortunately, there are many "honorary full moon days, too". Generally however, they seem to happen all in one day, and then the next day will be almost normal. Sixth: Somedays it will seem as if your Sinemet isn't working at all. On those days, try to postpone as many important decisions as possible. Try to take a few hours sick leave and go home early. You've earned it. Seventh: Probably the most important thing is to find yourself an email friend who also is a PWP. You'd be amazed how much easier life is, when you can share your problems with someone who also has PD, and completely understands what you are telling them. As Ever, Marjorie Moorefield just another librarian, with PD 64/9