Grappling With PD

I shaved my head (or rather, someone shaved it for me) for the second time in my life. The first was early in Officer Candidate School (OCS). It was not the night that we arrived, but very likely the next morning that we went to the on-base barber (a rather optimistic title for this particular individual, as I recall). A long line of heads to shave means fast work, and fast work . . . well, he only drew blood from one of us (it wasn't me). I have no pictures from then. The second time was two weeks ago, and it was for a fundraiser. My usual fundraising beneficiary is going to be related to Parkinson's somehow, and it is mostly Team Fox and the Michael J Fox Foundation. However, I make exceptions from time to time--after all, there are many good causes out there in need of support--and this was one of those times. The organization is St. Baldrick's Foundation ( https://www.stbaldricks.org/ ), and they raise money to fight childhood cancer and raise awareness of rel...

I re-watched Michael J Fox's Still earlier this evening, and his no-boundaries story about the two-year-old Mike reminded me of my own story. The two-year-old Greg (or maybe three) did not run out the front door, like Mr. Fox. Mom had some shopping to do, so put me in the car and took me with her. My little brother was still a year or two away from entering this world, and my big brother must have been in school that day. So little Greg got to go to the department store. I loved exploring, and I loved going inside things--things like a cardboard box fort built for us by my Dad, or in later years a cave or old building. In this particular case, what was available was a circular clothing rack at the White Store in De Pere, WI. I ducked under the shirts or pants, or whatever garments were hangng there, and I played. After a while--I have no idea how long--I decided to go find Mom and see what she was doing. I wandered around the store a while but could not find her. I did no...

[Originally published elsewhere on 7/21/19, describing a trek to Mt Whitney via the Mountaineer's route as a fundraiser for the Michael J Fox Foundation] Some thoughts/lessons learned for next time: I finally understand the usefulness of trekking poles. They help me a lot in poor-balance situations and get in the way in poor-coordination situations, and there are times when I prefer to put my hands on rocks (or branches), but I get it. I was considering carrying my cane instead of poles, like on Mt Charleston, but that would not work on a climbers' trail. I need to be more conscientious with sun screen and insect repellent. My training in the months leading up to this trip was pretty good, with one glaring omission: walking on steep slopes and jagged rocks. I can go for a longer hike with few if any problems where it's flat or stair-stepped, but on a real trail I got blisters on the balls of my feet. Better preparation needs to include hikes on rugged terrain, or if th...

My son asked for a VR headset for his birthday. At $300, that's more than we typically spend on birthday presents. After turning down similar requests in the past, however, this time I agreed. After all, he is at an age littered with milestones--13 years old (about to turn 14), graduating eighth grade, first communion, starting high school. He has been working hard, and it shows, so yeah, you got it. Formerly the Oculus Quest 2, now the Meta Quest 2 (the parent company of Facebook bought the company that previously produced the Quest headset) . . . it meant little to me, as I have never really looked into VR headsets. I was curious to learn about the platform and what it could do. I recall the We (Wi?) from many years ago and figured that with the pace of advancement, the hardware and software of today, some 10 years later, should be pretty impressive. It is that. The only game we have at the moment is Beat Saber, and after letting him break things in for a day or two, I ga...

A common question that I have been asked about Parkinson's Disease is, "What's it like?" There are many answers to this question, even for one person with Parkinsons (PwP), let alone the vast variability among the rest of the tribe. One answer for me is that your body is at times ruled by involuntary musucle contractions. Three examples: posture, legs, and fingers. As I type this I am wrestling with all three. Part one: abs and posture. I am hunched over as if executing a combined bow and crunch. It hurts my stomach, it's uncomfortable for my back, and I'm fighting my own muscles to srtraighten up. Not only do they ignore me, they in fact do the opposite of what I'm after. Part two: legs and feet. They seem to have decided to tense up and not move. So while I can tell them to relax and march in place, it ain't happening. Not just now, anyway. Part three: I tell my arm/hand/fingers to move the mouse or type on the keyboard, and I get the...

[originally posted elsewhere on 4/11/23] As I begin writing this in mid-March, it has been six months since I broke my leg, and I've been reminiscing about the events of that day and since then. It happened just after we finished the Blue Ridge Relay (BRR), so first a little background on that. The BRR is a 208-mile relay race (for runners) held each September since 2005 in the vicinity of the Blue Ridge Mountains, including several miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway itself. Max team size is 12, but elite teams can have fewer members. With a full team of 12 the race becomes a series of 36 slices of the total course, with each of the 12 runners tackling an assigned slice before handing off to the next runner. Repeat twice for a total of three segments per runner. (More details are available at https://blueridgerelay.com/). My team 1) finished and 2) did not finish last. A rousing success! The race had ended (we ran from 7 AM on Friday until about 7 PM on Saturday). A coupl...

I took a somewhat nasty fall on a trail run last night. The plan was to go out about three miles, then turn around and head back to the trailhead. I was about 2 miles into it, maybe 2.1, when I stumbled over a rock. Unlike the fall at the beginning of the Sawmill half, where I could not move my foot and fell straight down onto the path in front of me, this time I was able to try to keep my feet. I think if the path in front of me had been sidewalk quality, I would have been successful. However, the trail was littered with rocks, and stepping on them did not help at all. Compounding the situation, the trail was curving left at that spot, so my straight-ahead movement led me off-trail to the right, into some biger rocks. By biggger, I mean one to two feet across, if memory serves. I rolled a bit to the right as I fell, resulting in the worst of the impact hitting primarily my right shoulder, and also ribs and calf. I got few other dings as well, including on my left hand, both k...