The Story of My Life with PD

    I am in some sort of weird stage of PARKINSOMNIA!! I just can't sleep although i am extremely tired! Yesterday I slept for about two hours the night before. I got up at 5:30 a m and took a long hot shower. I thought it might tire me out! No such luck!! I tried to go back to sleep but my brain just was not having it! So I got up and went to the farm market!! I had a craving for fresh fruit and I thought it would be good to go early with no crowds. I usually just have my grocer ies delivered but I have not really cared for the quality of the fruits and vegetables! I got there at 7:05 and the store opened at 7 a m. The store was crowded, not mobbed but definitely crowded. When I got home, I made a delicious huge fruit salad. The fruit was all fresh and so tasty! It is almost gone now! I also made a huge green salad with lots of toppings. That salad is mostly still there in the refrigerator! I just took a half tablet of Carbidopa-Levodopa because I was afraid to get "stuck&quo

I couldn't blog yesterday about living with PD because it was the 19th anniversary date of my beloved 18 year old daughter Amy's death. I think that most people can only understand or fully comprehend the worst thing that has ever happened to them or a family member. For example, I can't comprehend what it is like to have Covid 19 or have a family member diagnosed with it and/or die from it. PD just seems like a little thing compared to losing a child. But I sure wish I di dn't have it. I don't think that anyone who doesn't have Parkinson's or have a family member with the diagnosis can completely understand what we as PD people, live with on a daily basis. Since I am still in the early stages, I can't really comprehend the issues I may have to deal with in the future. I can read about the possible issues, know them logically, but not really understand them until I may have to deal with them! The worst part of PD, for me, is the accompanying Sciatica! Sc

                Today I really slept in!  I feel too well rested!  I guess I am never satisfied, huh??  I slept from about 11:30 p m until 5:50 a m.  Then I watched CNN and fell back to sleep until about 10 a m.  I got up,, dressed, etc and went downstairs. I just feel so apathetic about everything. My PD is most definitely progressing. I know that I should call my neurologist  and ask to increase my Carbidopa-Levodpa. However, I think I want to remain in denial about how much I am progressing. I usually get up at night a few times to use the bathroom and I almost always fall at least once. I have my walker right next to the bed. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.  I don't know why I don't always use it!  I am spending a lot of time just sitting on the couch and reading and/or watching TV.  I usually always like to be doing something other than sitting but my "get up and go" has gotten up and is gone!!                     I planted a few marigolds out front

        Happy Mother's Day to all of my blog readers!  Yesterday I just dragged all day long!  I slept for less than 2 hours on Friday night!  I have no idea why I couldn't sleep other than Parkinson's insomnia. I had even taken a 30 minute walk on Friday afternoon so I thought I would sleep well! With Parkinson's, I rarely can make sense of much! SUNDAY          I am so proud of Olya!  She got two of her grades from her Spring semester and so far, she has 2 As!!  I am so happy for her because she works so hard!  I hope the college goes back in September to in person classes but I don't  think a decision has been made yet! Part of me wants her to go back to finish  and enjoy her Senior year but the other part of me is scared.         Today was such a wonderful Mother's Day!! Dan and I went to the cemetery to visit Amy and then we went to Home Depot. He had filled out an online order the day before.  For Mother's Day, Dan and the girls got me five flats of a

         The other day I asked Dan to bring home $100 worth of lottery tickets because I wanted to mail them to my friends as a surprise! I also had him get  two twenty dollar tickets for me.  I don't play much and I rarely win!!  Every once in a while I get on a binge and buy ten or twenty dollars worth! I mailed out the tickets to my friends and then I scratched my tickets. I won $100 on one of the lottery $20 cards! So that actually paid for the tickets I mailed to my friends as a surprise!   I have NEVER won that much on any card, ever!!   I got my own surprise that day!! My friends Jackie and Carol serenaded me on the phone with   "Thank You For Being A Friend!"  They also serenaded me for my birthday! They should go on the road as a traveling show!  I am so happy that I brought a little bit of joy to my friends!  And I hope someone wins BIG!!  I also mailed a few cards to Olivia and Olya!  They love to get mail! It is true that the more you give, the more you get! 

        I have been following the self-isolation mandate.  I am rules oriented and I am afraid to get the virus. If I leave my house, which is very rare, I wear a mask and wash my hands frequently and use hand sanitizer. I think the only time I have left the house is to go to my retina specialist and that was two weeks ago. I do go to the cemetery every Sunday, but there is never anyone near us!  I even wear a mask when I go through Swiss farms which is a  drive through for milk, bread, and other foods.   I have noticed that I am so sleepy. I am weak and I am terribly off balance. I don't understand why my PD is so affected by being in isolation.  My sleep schedule is awful but it has been like that since i was first diagnosed so I can't blame my sleep schedule on my tiredness and my weakness!  Yesterday after I got up, I made hamburger patties after I added spices to the meat. Then I cooked part of the meat and added taco sauce so the girls could eat it for lunch or dinner.   

   SAT.      Today I got up and had some energy!  Before having PD,  I use to clean most of the day Saturday.  But now,  I just don't have the energy to do that anymore. That is upsetting because I am so anal about having a clean house. Now  I just do what I can when I can and have to accept that as it is.   Today I worked on a project, and I got it finished. I can't write what the project was because the person/people I was doing it for is/are blog readers. I'll write about it more in a few days!  But I had so much fun doing it and will have even more fun when the person/people get it soon! I LOVE to surprise people!         Olivia and Dan went and picked up our take-out order. I wasn't that hungry but they got steak sandwiches!  Olya wants to have a bonfire tomorrow night. We have a pile of scrap wood in the yard that they are going to burn!  I defrosted hamburger meat so I will most likely barbecue tomorrow! I also wanted to make an apple pie today, Dan got flour f

        I can never get a real "handle" on my PD! Some days I am full of energy and other days I am so sleepy that I can barely stay awake.   Today is a sleepy day! I think that the fact that I am usually awake most of the night makes my sleep schedule  so off!  It is annoying. I had so much planned to do today! I chatted with my friend B today. Like me, she also has Parkinson's Disease. She is probably one of the most upbeat people I have ever known!  B told me that when people like us with PD get the Coronavirus that we have  a lot of difficulty breathing because of our muscle weakness,movement problems, etc.  I was telling B that I decided to take my meds differently. I take  a whole tablet and then two hours later, I take the half tablet.  And then 2-3 hours later, I take a whole tablet. MY dosage is supposed to be 1.5 tablets three times daily.  B told me that the pills won't work as effectively but I am feeling better with my new plan!         I also chatted wi