Living and Laughing with Parkinson's

is the title of a book I just received in the mail today written and illustrated by Anne Atkin, an Australian woman who has written this wonderful book detailing some of the more common and lesser known  symptoms and has drawn very quirky cartoons illustrating some of the situations she has been in as a result, and the comments of people witnessing them.   I saw the cartoons displayed at the Brisbane conference and ordered the book from her online when I got back to New Zealand.   She is a strong believer in the positive affects of creativity and, in her case, art therapy .  And I may even give it a go myself as a result. Both text and cartoon complement each other nicely with just the right amount of medical detail for the most squeamish of friends or family. 

It was published by Memoirs Foundation, Burwood East, Vic., for Anne Atkin in 2011.  ISBN 978-0-9870600-3-7

Creativity

People with Parkinson's  often have very vivid dreams.  I do too but unfortunately don't remember them except when they wake me up.   As a child I had a very vivid imagination and my teachers commented on it as it came out in my schoolwork.   However it was stifled   and emerged once more after the experience of motherhood.   There followed my involvement and participation in the various art and craft forms, mainly for my own benefit and pleasure.  I suppose the therapeutic value of art was explored too as I experienced motherhood at a later age than most.  Later I was a member of a domestic craft and  art group  which is still is an important part of my creative life.

This morning I awoke early after a dream,  with all sorts of ideas for creating/displaying/exhibiting the threads/yarns / strands of my life as I open the doors of my Parkinson's cupboard and come out. 

Trip to Parkinson's Conference in Brisbane

Our main trip this year will be a five week tour or Germany, our last one was two years ago so this short six day jaunt was a practice run at travelling with Parkinson's. I had been reading Bob Kuhn's blog Positively Parkinsons (also the title of Anne Andrew's book ) about his round the world odyssey and been encouraged to think I would cope with luggage, delays, and other pitfalls. We had been thinking of escaping the cold in Auckland so this idea of taking in part of the Australian Parkinson's Conference was good for both. There was a very full programme of about 10 speakers starting at 8.30 am which with the 2 hour time lag with Auckland made it attendable.  All the same such a full day was definitely tiring and by afternooon tea when Dieter appeared on the horizon I tossed in the sponge and left. 

I took copious notes which I find is the best way to remember things having the additional prompt  of the written word.  The only trouble is that my handwriting is becoming illegible even to my own eye. Ever positive,  I realized I was well-off when  I  heard about some of the other things that could and still might  happen to one in my situation. 

I was impressed with the amount of research and dedication to finding cause and cure for PD going on in Australia.  It gives me hope that a breakthrough is not far away and in the meantime there are things  I can do which help maintain quality of life and ameloriate side effects.  As Assoc. Prof  Simon Lewis pointed out Parkinson's is like a box of chocolates - full of soft centres. We are all different and experience similar things but differently.  

More on the individual sessions in future posts. 

Coffee Morning at the Garden Centre Cafe

The six-weekly coffee morning at the King's Plant Barn cafe in Orakei is always good.   First of all it is a welcome opportunity to meet up with the other positive women and be inspired and encouraged by what they are achieving and how they are coping.  It is all about being informed, sharing information and experience and enjoying the gathering with our field officer,  Kay,  in such a beautiful setting.  Yesterday there were pots of brilliantly coloured hyacinths , redolent with their heady perfume, especially welcome as people with Parkinson's  often lose their sense of smell.

Getting from Ponsonby involves  a brisk walk up the road to the busstop (makes up for not going to the gym that morning), a bus ride into town  and an enjoyable train trip to Orakei, past the Parnell Baths, now closed for the winter, but bringing back teenage memories of many visits there,  and to neighbouring Judges Bay for swims.

There are about 8 to 12 of us at the meetings which bring us up to date with what is going on in Auckland - or elsewhere.  Heard about the Parkinson's Australia National Conference being held in Brisbane  on the 12-14 July this year, ie in a couple of weeks time and decided to go over for it, one day of it it turns out. 

Booked flights on points  which is a saving and found a reasonable priced hotel for the three nights we will be in Brisbane before we go up to the Sunshine Coast to visit good friend Pat, and stay a couple of nights there before flying back home.  Will have time in these places to do pleasurable things and have a bit of a holiday. 

I went to Brisbane three years ago when I had just been diagnosed and starfted the rest of my life living with an illness and enjoyably, in spite of it.  So far so good. 

Speech and music

Enjoyed  two lectures at the Continuing Education up at the uni on language, speech and music. It was good to be out and about with the rest of the world on a Saturday morning. There were a lot of early childhood people and speech therapists there and interested others,  all with their little hobbyhorses when it came to question time. The first lecture by Michael Corbalis was on his theory of how language came about as an extension of manual gesture about 200,0000 years (babies and small children still use gestures such as pointing, and sign language to communicate). Facial gestures are added to the repertoire,  further localised in the mouth area, including inside the mouth - tongue and larynx etc. So, he concluded, speech is the miniaturisation of gesture and frees up the rest of the body to do other things . Our language still has such metaphors as grasping i.e. understanding something , we point things out,  and catch your drift.
Then he spoke about brain asymmetry and how right-handedness corresponds with the left side of the brain and vice versa. Both sides are not exactly the same - for example spatial attention is seated more in the right side of the brain and if one's left brain is damaged by a neurological condition then spatial ability to the left can be not as good as on the right.
The sessions were in a lecture room in the old Clocktower Building so going back there was a blast from the past.  We had morning tea in the cloisters and I found a nice lady to talk to also there on her own, so that was nice. $60 was a lot for a morning and I hadn't found anybody among my friends  who was interested enough to fork out that. It is very convenient for me to do things in the city and it often easier to be independent, though nice to have company.

Then  there was the next lecture entitled Speech, language and song by Suzanne Purdy,  a professor  of speech science who outlined some recent interesting research which I will follow up by reading on the internet. It is good to know that even if one side of the brain is damaged by illness then all is not lost - for example both sides of the brain (and some overlap)  are used in hearing music , even musical training in childhood helps in musical memory and singing ability when all else seems to be damaged. She used some examples from our choir singing and one of someone talking and singing a solo. There were images of us singing at various events and classes including ones where I was quite obvious. The research looks promising about how singing keeps the voice strong for people with Parkinson's and of course the social and psychological benefits and better quality of life are appreciated by many of the people in the choir too, particularly those who have had strokes and are in wheelchairs.

Third Anniversary Week

I realize it is three years this month since I was first diagnosed with Parkinson's which at the time was a real shock to the system.   Nowadays I keep up to date with research and do things that enable me to live life to the max. 

Went to a one of the six weekly coffee mornings at the garden centre cafe this week, meeting up with our field officer Kay and 8 or 9 nice women I have got to know.  We had a visit from a massage therapist who spoke about the positive outcomes a good massage can bring about - reduction of stiffness and tension, and an increase of  wellbeing.  In the past I have used massage at the physio  when I have had a speciific ache or pain, not so much to prevent such aches or pains from developing.

Did a zumba class today at the Y this morning and enjoyed moving about to the Latin American music  following our South American instructor Monica.  Haven't danced with such abandon for years, a wonderful exhilarating feeling, and good for the co-ordination and the brain as well.

Coming out with Parkinsons

Most of my friends and many others know that I am getting on with life in spite of a diagnosis of Parkinsons about three years ago.   I thought at that time things would be far worse than in fact they have been.  I can cope with a bit of shaking, a modicum of stiffness on one side and  concentrate on doing things I can do and finding ways to still do the  other things that are affected by Parkinson's.

There are things like exercise on a daily basis which along with the daily doses of dopamine in the form of Sinamet  is the mainstay of  my well-being .  I also find singing in the Celebration Choir  a great morale booster .  I took up indoor bowls to improve the performance of my right arm  and by persevering  and concentrating hard over the weeks and the couple of years  I can manage to hold my own .   I carry on with the domestic crafts and art  I had enjoyed over many years and manage to enjoy travel and holidays.

Each week is full of activity underscored by the fact that I am living with Parkinson's  and I can honestly say that I am living life to the full.