Susan, Working, according to my movement disorder specialist, is for some
pwp(persons with parkinson's) a necessary and rewarding aspect of life
while for others, the stress of work....esp work that is NOT enjoyed....can
increase the symptoms of Parkinson's. Again, note the individual choice
his advice implied. Dick will have to decide if his work is enjoyable and
NOT extremely stressful and if he CAN work and WANTS to work, treating his
pd symptoms so he can continue working sounds reasonable.
RE: adding meds. My own opinion, and I'm NOT a neurologist but have been
living with Parkinson's for two years, is to add medicines slowly ie
titrating up to an amount that is adequate for symptom control and also
titrating down if a medicine doesn't give adequate relief without extreme
or intolerable side effects. Keeping a diary of timing of meds along with
foods eaten and the symptom control observed or the side effects noticed
can be a VALUABLE tool when Dick talks with his neurologist at appointment
time. For example: 6:30 AM Sinemet CR Feel rested & ready for day's busy
sched.
7:00AM Juice, wheat bagel
w/margarine/applebutter
7:30AM Read/post e-mail
8:30AM Dress for work. Am noticing that I
am feeling stiff. Of
course, I haven't taken my
daily AM walks this week
due to holiday events. The
colder weather also seems
to make my left shoulder,
elbow, wrist feel achy. May
also have arthritis along with
Parkinson's??
11:00AM Vit C 250mg, Vit E 400mg, Multi Vitamin 6-8oz water
Noon Salad, soup or sandwich, cookie, water
l2:30 Read,doze in LaZBoy Awake refreshed and ready to
get busy.
2:00 Take Advil or Tylenol 2-500mg for aching muscles.
Don't know if pain is from Parkinson's, exercise,
arthritis or what?
3:30 Snack....apple or orange; some tortilla chips/salsa
5:30pm SinemetCR
Am noticing that I'm stiff, having difficulty with fine
motor skills. Have decided to hire friend of dghtrs
to wrap the gifts......it's just to frustrating to struggle
with the tape, ribbons, bows.
6:30pm Dinner Chicken, potato, green beans, bread/marg
Water Christmas cookie....okay...cookies.
7:30pm Am feeling the effect of the 5:30 SinemetCR Body
is looser, movements easier and more fluid.
9:00pm Take a warm shower or bath. Heat of water good
to relieve tension in neck, shoulders etc.
9:45pm One last look at e-mail and then to bed.
10:45pm Sleep hopefully comes easily
5:00am Usually up to the bathroom and to drink water
as meds give me "dry mouth".
6:15am Arise, take SinemetCR and water
6:45am Juice, oatmeal
This is a simple model. Dick may have more meds and he should show all
meds, not just the ones for Parkinson's. Also, certain events of the
day....conflict or success at work may trigger stress and he should note
the event and the symptoms after the event.
Have a good day:)
Jeanette Fuhr 49/47/44?
----------
From: Susan Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The List
Date: Friday, December 17, 1999 11:27 PM
Jeannette, Dick is seeing a neurologist that his heart doctor
reccommended. He ssems to be competent enough, but not one to get overly
involved with his patients. I have only talked to him once. Dick
usually goes to his doctors by himself. He goes when he is suppose to
and is not afraid to call and ask questions and he will do what the
doctors tell him, (most of the time) He takes his medication but
sometimes not as he should. He has short term memory loss from his
heart attacks. It is quite a balancing act between keeping the PD meds
coordinated with the heart meds. He has only been on Sinement about a
year, but in that time, it has been increased three times. But in spite
of all this, he still get up at 5am an goes to work and does not stop
until 6pm or later.
His idea has always been that no matter what you just get up every
morning and do what you have to do to the best of your ability and the
rest will take care of itself. I think I get more out of this list
than he does. He does not seem to interested in what I am learning.
At first, I wanted him to take a disability from the company and stay
home and take it easy and enjoy his life while he can, but, now I am
not so sure. Maybe he is doing what is best for him. We all cope in
our own way. I just want him to have the best of whatever is available
to him at any given time. My concern is that everytime he has a problem
like twitching all night, losing is speech in the middle of the day, (he
is a saleman and that can be very disconcerting to customers as they
sometimes think he is drunk because his speech gets very thick and
slurred.) his doctor just gives him another pill. It seems I spend all
my time ordering medication. Some of it helps and some doesn't. It also
seems to me that since the onset of his symptoms (he was unable to
control his saliva) that he has developed other symptoms at a very rapid
pace, but his doctor seems to think
this is normal and just increases his medicine. I guess I just want to
know if this is how it goes. I feel we are ignorantly just doing what
we are told to do and hoping that we are doing the right thing..
Suecg
