POSITIVE with PARKINSONS

        Today I felt a little better from my stomach bug.   I didn't even think about my PD when I got up because when I have an upset stomach, it rules my life.  On Tue night I couldn't sleep again and after a few hours I got up and took a few drops of my liquid medical marijuana.  I fell asleep for two hours and then I was wide awake again. Yesterday I laid around most of the morning because I had book club in the evening and I wanted to go. The book we had read was Station Eleven.  The book was really not my forte but I read the entire thing so I wanted to go to the discussion! I didn't feel that well even then so I listened more than I chatted.  Most of the group  didn't like the book, I thought it was OK.  The librarian loved the book, she is a sci-fi fan!  ( Station Eleven is a 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel. It is Mandel's fourth novel. The novel takes place in the Great Lakes region after a fictional swine flu pandemic, known as the "Georgia Flu&qu

        Last evening I became so nauseous! I didn't feel great all day long but in the evening I had to bow down to the porcelain god and hang in the bathroom!!  I didn't throw up because there really wasn't anything in my stomach! I fell asleep on the bathroom rug for two hours and then felt a bit better when I woke up. I took Prilosec but it only helped a tiny bit!! Again I was awake most of the night. Someone who read my blog said that I should go back to taking the medical marijuana if it helped. That was good advice so I may try it again after I feel better.  I know what I should do but I keep trying to deny that I have PD!! You'd think that my brain would have totally accepted it by now, but apparently I haven't! All day today I just laid on the couch with a blanket because I had the chills, I think I had a fever but I felt too sick to go find a thermometer! Olivia got me a glass of ginger ale and I think it was the best drink I have ever had!!        

             When I got diagnosed with PD, I joined several Facebook Pages and I started a Facebook Page called People With Parkinson's.  I started the page at the end of March 2019 and there are now 544 members. Unfortunately, the number of PD patients keeps growing.  It is always good to gain insight and helpful comments from people who are going through the same thing.  I am also bereaved mom and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the other bereaved moms who helped me through the worst time of my life, especially my friend Debbie, and  later my friend Priscilla.  Debbie and I both lost healthy teenagers the same year and I think that is why we connected so well. Debbie's funny comments and huge support literally saved my life!  Priscilla is my best friend and we also connected in a way that I can't explain.  We met online and now attend the same bereaved parents group at night.  And I run a daytime bereaved moms group once a month.  I am also an older a

        Lately I have had so much trouble sleeping at night! It is aggravating because then I feel so tired throughout the day! I fall asleep for a few hours and then I am wide awake for a few hours. I stay in bed because I keep hoping that I will fall back to sleep. I seem to always wake up around 3 a m.  Eventually I watch TV and watch old Law and Order SVU  shows or old Dr Phil shows!  Then I fall back to sleep for an hour or so at 8 am and then when I get up I feel so sleepy!   I tried medical marijuana but the same thing happens. I have also tried Melatonin. I try NOT to fall asleep during the day but eventually I get so tired that it just happens, even if I am just sitting on the couch reading or watching TV! It seems like I am in a vicious cycle that I can't break out of!        This morning Dan and I went to the cemetery to visit Amy and my dad.  We stopped at the dollar store to get a birthday balloon for my dad because tomorrow is his birthday!  The dollar store

       Yesterday Dan and I went to pick up Olya.  She went home to her boyfriend's house because he went home for the weekend to celebrate his father's birthday.  Our ride was almost two hours to pick her up.  Olya came home to go to a scary Halloween event with Dan, Olivia and Frankie.  I will be home because that is NOT my thing at all!!Olya's  boyfriend Matt has the nicest parents!! I just love them, they are so nice and they treat Olya so well.  She is so comfortable around them and I really appreciate that.  I think it is always better to have more people in your life who care about you. I have no idea what Olya and Matt's future will be,  either together or apart,  but I am so happy that they are in her life now.  Olya is actually rooming with a girl she met from Matt that he went to high school with!   Her roommate is so sweet, she is such a lovely young woman! Dan and I have to pay for the second half of Junior year and then Senior year and then we are FINALLY d

        Today I had a lunch date with my really good friend.  I dreaded the idea of falling but I was fine, actually I was really good. I took my meds about twenty minutes before I met with her and that is the best time for me.  My meds work great for most of the day but they really wane as the day goes on! I barely even shuffled! I don't understand why the day was so wonderful but I am NOT going to look a gift horse in the mouth!  There are some people who are so nice and kind and good and it is just a pleasure to spend time with them.  My friend Deb G reminds me of my sister-in-law Pennie.  I feel good when I am with either one of them. It's sort of like their goodness rubs off on me.  My friend Deb is always such a positive person, I don't think she ever gets mad or angry about anything. Like me she is an older(but not old) adoptive mom and we share the joys and struggles of parenting at our age.  Deb and I have the same parenting philosophy!  I had such a wonderful time

          We went out to dinner on Sunday night for Dan's birthday.  Olya's boyfriend  Matt came with us!  He is so funny and has such a quick wit and dry sense of humor!  Renee ordered a bucket of crabs, They gave her a wooden mallet to crack open the crabs but there was no place for her to bang them open. So I asked the waitress for a crab cracker!  She said "sure."  A few minutes later, this is what she brought!   I didn't even connect it with my request. I just thought it came with Renee's meal!! Matt is the one who noticed!! Renee ordered a pumpkin spice beer and they carded her!! I asked the waiter how old he thought she was and he said 22! She is 31!              Today I fell about 5 or 6 times. I don't know why but I could not keep walking correctly or get myself seated correctly on the couch! I had to use my walker all day long. It started in the morning as soon as I got up. I took my meds and ran the shower to warm up the water.  I have b

        Sunday was Dan's birthday and he wanted to go camping for his birthday!!   I thought it would be too cold but he said that we had heat in the camper!! So off we went on Sat morning!  Renee came with us and we camped about 30 minutes from Olya's college.  I really wanted to leave Parkinson's and Sciatica at home but of course, once again they refused to stay back!!  On Sat night we ate at Hoss' and we went to see the movie Maleficent!  The movie was really good!  We saw it in an old fashioned movie theater!The people behind us were from a town right near where we live!! We were in a very small town and that was the only theater. The bathroom was close to us but it was up a huge flight of steps so Dan had to drive me back and forth to the bathroom! Parkinson's and Sciatica refused to let me go up the stairs and I did try! Olivia was having a heart attack because we had no cell service at the campground! I loved it! On Sun. morning Dan and

           Last night when Dan and I left the Vegas Hotel for the airport, we took a cab.  When we got in the cab, the cabbie was all smiley telling us that he was so glad to have us in his cab because we looked normal! Dan is an engineer and I am a retired reading specialist so I guess we just look like your everyday people.  Then he goes on to tell us about his previous customers from the day  and evening before. He told us that a drunk woman put her hands down his pants and he had to call the cops. He chose to not press charges because she promised him a huge tip!  Then he told us about a guy in his cab who was drunk and hung his "equipment" out the window. I didn't know that was possible. What kind of position would a guy have to be in to be able to do that??  He was stopped by the cops and he said he didn't look in the back and had no idea that the guy was doing that,  The cop told the guy to put his "junk" back in his pants. He was hysterical!!  On

        Dan and I went to Las Vegas for a few days!  We went to see the Donny and Marie Show. I am a big fan of Donny and Marie and their show is ending in a few weeks. Of course, stupid me, decides NOT to take a walker or cane.  I thought I would be fine without one.  BIG MISTAKE!!  We went to the airport and parked in short term parking because it is close and I wouldn't have to walk as much. However, the gate was SO SO SO FAR away from the parking garage. I missed my walker!!   I took two Tylenol before I left the house but that barley put a dent in the sciatica pain I felt !!!  told Dan to force me to tale my walker for the next trip in Dec. I took my Parkinson's meds so my balance wasn't too bad but I still had trouble if I had to get on and off escalators or stairs if there wasn't an elevator. When we got to the screening place, I had so much trouble trying to lift my leg to take my shoes off that the guy just said." never mind, just leave them on!!! And go o

                June 2 is a very special day in our family.  It was the day that my beloved daughter Amy was born. I was so excited to have a beautiful little girl.  She was my most precious gift and that feeling has never changed.   Amy died at age 18.  After her death, life had no meaning for  us.  We just wen through the motions of living and existing because we still had to finish raising Renee, who was only 13 when Amy died. Dan had told me that friends of his, also bereaved parents, had adopted a little boy from Ukraine. I thought they were absolutely crazy.  Fast forward a few years and that tiny seed grew in my mind. Maybe it was Divine Intervention, I don't know,  but we decided to adopt from Ukraine.  I am so thankful to Ukraine for giving me two of their most precious gifts.  We must have been twice as crazy as his friends because we adopted not once, but TWICE!! We adopted Olivia in March of 2007.  There is so much paperwork to adopt and we had to make several trips

         We have been cleaning out the attic.  The workers brought down a few boxes from the attic, I thought it was mostly Christmas Crap!  However, I opened a box today with tons of photos from when Joe and Amy were babies and little kids. My beautiful and sweet daughter Amy. It is difficult to look at photos of Amy that I have not seen for many years. She was the sweetest  and most loving little girl.   There were also lots of photos of my dad. I just love and loved my Dad so much, he was my best friend. Except for when I was away for vacation or in college, I saw my Dad everyday of my life.  He came to see me and Joe and Amy everyday before he went home. When my dad died, I thought it was the worst pain that anyone could ever feel until I lost my beloved daughter Amy at age 18.  There just are no words in the dictionary that can accurately describe the grief of losing a healthy young adult. I miss Amy every second of everyday. She has been gone 18 years but the pain nev