As I describe in another blogsite the last few months have been sheer terror especially as a parent whose son is at war. Today was a major milestone in my fightback as I ran my first 5k for 3 months!
Stress has had a significant impact on my physical health mainly manifesting itself through a new set of symptoms of freezing and falling due to balance issues and worsening of my sleep challenges (this morning I woke up 1:48am which is not the earliest this week).
I have fallen over a number of times (and lost my balance many more) publicly and privately. Luckily, the worst casualty has been a bucket in the kitchen which broke my fall and didn’t live to tell the tale. On advice I have had to start using a walking stick/cane. This is not something I enjoy at 48 years old for so many reasons.
As a practical person I have thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at it – kept up the exercise using Nordic walking sticks to counteract the balance challenge, yoga, gym work, physio, acupuncture, and I have engaged with a great therapist which is finally working for me in helping me to learn how to accept my condition. As always my family has been awesome as have friends and I have been especially inspired by the positive attitude of a friend who is going through a major health battle who I wish and pray for a speedy recovery.
I have also switched meds which itself took a little adjustment to from Sifrol to Sinamet and a few other tweaks which seem to help.
More than that my son came out of the frontline (albeit temporarily) which has lifted me probably way more than any of the above. He may unfortunately probably go back and we will see if it again impacts me but I am much better prepared now.
So I write this as much to myself as anything. The last few days I have felt much more stable and I have been able to only keep the stick/cane for backup. This morning I ran a 5k for the first time in ages and it felt normal again.
Who knows what the future brings – Parkinson’s progresses and war continues – but I will try to keep positive and deal with the stress as effectively as possible. I hope the same for all those others suffering from stress and its impacts.
