I’ve been falling more than usual and I’m carrying the bruises to prove it.
In August my big toe caught on the edge of a rug, resulting in a sprained toe and other wrenched and bruised body parts. Did I stop stripping the bureau I was working on? No. Typical PD personality, I kept at it and only later noticed my toe was swollen and black and blue. It’s still bothering me.
On my birthday, after brandy (bad idea), I fell twice on the way to bed. No serious damage, so I imagine the alcohol helped me fall softly.
Heading towards the receptionist in Dr. K’s office last week, I hurtled down the hall and fell flat on my stomach in the waiting room. There were cries and gasps from all around, but I was basically all right except for a skinned palm.
And finally, last night carrying beer to put in the fridge, I miscalculated the step up to the kitchen and came crashing down on my shins. The beer bottles were not broken, nor was I. But when I later looked at the damage there was a goose egg below my left knee. Both shins are getting a thrice-daily treatment with arnica ointment to ease the pain and hopefully avoid a dramatic color show.
This is quite a concern and a strong case for giving in and taking the meds. What can I do? I need to have some kind of support at all times I guess. I’ve taken to using a walking stick as the most helpful option that I’ve tried. I’m not inclined to do 100% wheelchair and I hope never have to.
I just keep repeating, “I have the power to heal myself.”
I am sorry you are falling. It can be very discouraging, and you are a courageous person who is fighting a very difficult fight. Repeating "I have the power to heal myself" is a wonderful place to start. Here are some things I did to assist with movement and balance:
ReplyDeleteBrain Vibration Chanting
Sit up straight and repeat the following chant as fast as possible for five minutes:
ling yow chee chee chee – joe ling bah
ling yow chee chee chee – joe ar ar sih sih
NOTE: sih sounds like sit without the “t”
(You should begin to feel a vibration in your head).
Awareness of neural (electrical) impulses
a. While standing still, slowly lift your right arm up to your side and then lower it; do this four times. Close your eyes and see if you can feel the impulses. Write down where you feel them; i.e., right side of neck, left knee….
b. Repeat entire a. exercise with your left arm.
c. While holding onto a countertop or something else for balance, slowly lift your right knee (as if marching) and then lower your foot to the floor; do this four times. Close your eyes and see if you can feel the impulses. Write down where you feel them.
d. Repeat entire c. sequence with your left knee.
NOTE: The next time you perform Brain Vibration Chanting, as you feel your brain vibrating, visualize the energy (electrical impulses) from the right side of your brain going down the right side of your body all the way to your right foot. Once you can visualize a smooth flow, then do the same thing for the left side of your brain vibrating all the way down the left side of your body to your left foot. Over time, when I performed the Awareness exercise above, I felt impulses only on the side of the body where I was moving an individual limb. This took time, so be patient.
For additional thoughts, take a look at:
http://fightingparkinsonsdrugfree.blogspot.com/2010/04/post-doctor-visit-adjustment-in.html
-and- http://fightingparkinsonsdrugfree.blogspot.com/2010/08/fighting-parkinsons-getting-balanced.html
Hang in there.
Howard
Reading this reminds me for some reason of being little and watching "Rudolph" at xmas time. Remember that? I felt a love/hate for the show because of course I empathized with Rudolf (sp?). But all was not fun and games with the poor red nosed fella, and there was that nasty monster.
ReplyDeleteThe real climax is when the monster falls over a cold icy cliff, and is believed to be dead along with a beloved adventurer. Everyone is happy/sad for the dual loss. The lesson of this childhood roller coaster of a program --at least for me-- was that "Bumbles bounce!" I can still feel the relief when I realized what this meant: the good adventurer was saved, and the monster was tamed, ergo happy ending. Almost makes me giggle to this day (almost!)to remember them both coming back from the abyss alive!
I know how utterly frustrating it is to appear to be powerlessly and absentmindedly clumsy. With arthritic hands now I drop things all the time, and I can either take it out on myself (as I often do) or I can just go along with it like I'm part of some sort of kids' silly xmas program, and just sort of laugh at the absurdity--like dropping the same thing three times in a row! (oi) Many times dropping things serves as a reminder that given my physical limitations now, I'm really just trying to do too much--as if I have no such limitations, and I need to slow down, and take a deeeeeeep breath....And for some reason it helps to remember that after all-- "bumbles bounce", and I guess that we can learn to do that too?