ALL DAY WALKER DAY!!!!!!!

         Last night I went to my bereaved parent meeting. I had gone most of the day without using my walker but kept it with me as my safety net.  I didn't use it at my boxing class or at CVS or at home.  I didn't even use it when I went out to the garage to go to the meeting.  I do have a fold up walker that I leave in my car just in case I need to use it.  I went to the meeting at 7 p m and left my walker in the car.  The meeting was until 9 pm and I could feel my meds waning.  I got up to leave about 9:10 p m  and my friend Priscilla had to help me walk out to my car.  I could NOT have walked out alone.  I called Dan on the way home and asked him to put my walker out in the garage because I needed it to walk into the house!!
          A friend had told me about Silver Sneakers which offers free classes and use of certain gym facilities.  You need to be on Medicare and have AARP insurance.   I had heard about it before but never investigated it.  Today I registered and got my membership card!! I also heard from the Rock Steady gym about PT in my home.  That will start soon.  I still have a few more sessions with my chiropractor and don't want to give them up.  I know he is going to Italy on a vacation sometime in April.  He laughingly told me that he planned his vacation to Italy around my vacation to Disney!!  Some of the dates coincide each other! I told him that my friend Helen is going to use him, I don't know when she'll start. I had  a chiropractor appt. this morning and then I met my girlfriend Deb L for lunch.  We don't really eat lunch, we get drinks and sit in Paneras and chat.  Deb L is in the daytime bereaved mom's group that I run. She also attends an evening group that meets once a month. They are having such drama and problems in their group.  Some bereaved moms think that ONLY they are suffering, all bereaved parents suffer, most suffer until they die.  One woman sent scathing emails to the entire group. We have NEVER had any drama in our daytime group, never, and I would definitely kick out a troublemaker, we all have enough grief to live with. I love all of the moms in my daytime group, they are all so special.
          Today was definitely a USE MY WALKER all day!  It is so annoying to have to use it. I took it to my chiro appt, then I had to take it to lunch, and then I had to take it into WAWA!! I had to use it at home all day, even just to go to the bathroom. I love that my inside walker, that my generous friend Carol gave me, has a basket and is so easy to push!!  I've read that people have good days and bad days with Parkinson's. This was not a good day but it really wasn't a bad day, just an in-between annoying day.  My friend Luann, who was a speech pathologist in the school district I worked at, sent me the information below.  I joined the Parkinson's team, maybe I'll learn something new.
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Parkinson's: What People Don't See (Infographic)

Below the surface, living with Parkinson's can mean days spent at home, missed appointments, and alternate days when we seem "fine." There's so much more to Parkinson's than people assume. We know that Parkinson's comes with hundreds of possible combinations of symptoms, many of which appear invisible to outsiders. Most people don't see the many symptoms we experience. 

On MyParkinsonsTeam.com, the social network and online support group for people living with Parkinson's, members discuss the chronic nature of the disease and its hidden symptoms. MyParkinsonsTeam has grown to reach 39,000 members and members have shared over 1 million conversations about life with Parkinson's Throughout the year we will share themes we see come up time and time on MyParkinsonsTeam. We chose the image of an iceberg to represent Parkinson's symptoms because the life-impacting implications of a Parkinson's diagnosis aren't obvious on the surface. Please share to spread Parkinson's awareness!