Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Don't Wanna Give Away Too Much!
I will give you a modest little peek of my wound today before I go to KU Med to check in with my Neurosurgeon this afternoon in order for him to assess the danger of recurrent infection in proximity to my wires. (ooh, my healing scar looks like it's whistling! ) TOMORROW, I go back to the Med Center to see the D ermatologist about removing the whole thing, and again, just as you call the city before you dig to check for hidden underground wires, I'm just like that plot of land you want to dig...
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
MRSA! Mercy Me!
Have you heard of the newest threat to your mortality? It's an infection that can kill you, regardless of age or station in life. It is known as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). I recently survived such a threat. In a matter of days, I had a little plugged oil duct that located itself on my skin above my sternum, and had been there for months, suddenly turn into a whopping big infected cyst. This, of course, would begin on the first day of my ten-day stay in Boston. Murphy's...
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Sunday, June 29, 2008
My husband, Jay, brought me the greatest gift today! But before I tell all about the gift, let me fill you in on a few of the details. Parkinson’s is a progressive degenerative disease for which there is no cure. That just means, in layman’s terms, ‘yer not gettin’ any better, baby, and there’s nuttin’ you can do about it.’ It’s what I’ve got. Well, two of the “gait” or walking problems are trying to slow me down. One is “festinating,” which is characterized by walking forward, putting too much...
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Friday, June 6, 2008
Confessions of a Parkinson’s Pundit
The front-page headline in the Kansas City Star on Thursday, June 5, 2008: Pundits ponder what’s up next for Clinton Yes, I know when one says “Pundit”, you first think of politics. I wondered if the term could be applied to other areas of life in which one that offers opinions about a subject about which they are quite knowledge. I found the following definition: Pundit (expert), an expert or opinion-leader who analyzes events in his or her area of expertise in the popular media. I wanted to be...
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Superglue to the Rescue!
This is an invaluable tip. It came to me via our endocrinologist who spent eight years in the Emergency Room at KU Med. Today I gouged my finger, quite deeply, on a piece of broken glass. I ran to the kitchen and held the blood-dripping finger under the cool water to wash it and then wrapped it in a paper napkin and applied pressure on it for about 15 minutes. It bled very little. To keep it closed, I had my daughter apply a few drops of Super-glue over the cut area. I had to repeat this one...
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Monday, May 5, 2008
Smile While I Can
I woke up this morning having shed yet one more pound, feeling on top of the world. On this regime of eating for an alkaline-based body, I finally feel as if I'm coming out of a cloud of confusion; my thinking has sharpened. I have taken control of my nutritional needs in light of my heavily medicated needs of Parkinsonism, cancer, and heart disease. Dog gone it, I AM making headway, and am getting better. It's a grand day for one who has as much wrong with them as I do to say that. As I got...
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Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Pity Pot
It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done. Thanks dear readers for bearing with me through that last entry. I am cleansed again; purged. It's a process one must go through when life's lemonade turns sour again. You have to get back into balance. For me that means getting my head in balance with my heart. Thank you, YP, for your dearest advice and concern. You remain my picker-upper. You are my "fix" once again. I hope my candor did not...
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Thursday, May 1, 2008
We Marry Our Fathers
My husband is guilty of not leaving his stress at work. I run away from it when he comes home and starts in on his "woe is me-isms" because it adversely affects my Parkinson's disease. My foot starts to tremor and I find MYSELF feeling his pain and thus his stress. I had been calm and collected, feeling good about myself in the world, and that kind of talk plunges me into a panic mode. My heart starts to beat harder, I feel nervous and fidgety, my PD tremors return. I usually just remove myself...
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Friday, April 18, 2008
NO Pain!
What a difference a week can make! Last week I was explaining my pain to my orthopedic doctor and finding out I was looking forward to an eventual hip replacement. Since I have Parkinson’s, I was looking at it sooner than later, too. Since then, I have researched hip replacement and talked to people who have had them. I found out that if you have the shots for pain management, you most definitely will have to have the joint replaced; the shots turn it spongy. I also learned that the new hips...
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Friday, April 11, 2008
Titanium Sounds Good . . .
My body has been in so much pain lately. I had my hip x-rayed today because the pain from the right hip is interfering with ALL aspects of my life.* The results show a lot of arthritis and that I will need a hip replacement. The pain used to be controlled with Naproxin (Aleve) and now it's not handling the hip pain. I pointed out to the doctor that even though deep hip injections every 6-8 months may be effective in managing the pain for the next 5-10 years, I have Parkinson's disease that is a...
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