Year 2 into 3…PD has not been the key thing :-)

It has been many months since I last posted so I thought I would drop a short update, especially as a few people have asked.

I will probably regret this because when I say that things are going well, the next day I feel the opposite. So I guess tomorrow won’t be a great day for me.

Looking back at the last few months I am really happy to say that PD has not been the core focus – one of my kids had a Batmitzvah at which finally family from the UK (some anyway) were able to visit, my other daughter is making me proud in her National Service working with Autistic kids and my son has joined the army which is a big moment for us. In the next couple of months we will celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary (for which I am very grateful to my wife!!). It is great looking back and realizing that Parkinson’s has not prevented or impacted meaningfully these events and this is great and long may it continue. 

I am not saying PD has disappeared – for sure it has continued to progress its negative course and there are days when I feel it strongly. I still have all the same symptoms as I described in previous posts (including the weird startle response), and the tremor in my hand (when I move my fingers together) is now more pronounced and 24/7 but it is being managed through the combination of medications, diet, exercise (currently walk/jog/run 5km daily, yoga every day, boxing training weekly, a few games of Table tennis with the kids, weekly Physio and Acupuncture). Also, work has kept me more than occupied 😊

Emotionally it remains ups and downs – mainly ups. I won’t pretend to be ok with it, and maybe things will be harder when the signs are much more obvious not just to me but to others but in the grand scheme of things I am dealing with it relatively positively. 

 I do have what is described – I believe –  as ‘Grieving for a Lost Future’. We all have images of a future of rest, relaxation, hopefully grandchildren and holidays (all including walks along the beach). I guess that was a vision I shared and PD puts a wrench in the works for me, and probably more so for my wife and kids. The truth however is that for many people retirement is not straightforward and I have to tell myself that many people have far worse condition than me and I should count myself lucky to have such an amazing family, community, job etc. 

So for now, the focus is on keeping up the routine of meds/exercise, learning the new nutrition plan I have (an awesome piece of work by a qualified Parkinson’s specialist Dietician), keep working, absolute faith and trying to be as normal as possible.