>>> Posting number 42282
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 13:21:13 EDT
From: Janet Paterson
Subject: gems from george - 1 of 2
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Date: 97/02/18
From: George Lussier
Subject: [HUMOR HERE] STUFF.
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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
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Date: 97/02/19
From: Lena Holmes
Subject: Re: About models, facts and strange PD phenomena-Walking Backwards
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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
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Date: 97/02/20
From: George Lussier
Subject: HERE SHE COMES BACKWARDS!! WEEEEEEE!
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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
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janet paterson
52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset
e-mail - [log in to unmask]
web-site - http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/
