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Twenty-Two Years with Parkinson’s and Living a Full Life
People with Parkinson’s who are typically spotlighted as “high functioning” and going after life with vigor are often still in their first few years after being diagnosed. However, I wanted to share a story of hope and proof of someone who was diagnosed at age 37, and yet 22 years later, is still going strong!
Meet Ken. He was diagnosed in 1997 shortly after experiencing a traumatic event. He noticed that his hand, while holding a soda can, started shaking and wouldn’t stop. This new father and business owner of a die cutting company was shocked, as you can imagine.
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The Best Parkinson’s Exercises to Improve Stiffness and Your Handwriting
Hello There! So many of my students complain of stiffness in their hands. This stiffness affects their everyday life, not to mention the annoyingly small handwriting (micrography) that comes with Parkinson’s disease.
A few years ago, I fell off a high ledge while hiking that caused me to snap ligaments and break my right thumb. I had to hike a couple of hours out to get to my car and then drive myself to the nearest emergency room. I ended up being in an immobilizing brace for 3 months. That resulted in my hand becoming stiff as a board, and my thumb didn’t move at all! I went through hand therapy and became a huge fan of hand exercises. As you can see by watching this video, I restored full range and function. I never neglect my hand exercises, and neither should you!
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3 Must Do Parkinson’s Back Stretches If You Like To Work In The Yard
Every spring, many of my Parkinson’s clients come to see me following a beautiful sunny weekend and they complain of a very sore back. Was it from some athletic sport they just participated in? No. Usually it is from garden and yard work! We imagine that we have one day to get everything done, which often leads to sore and over-worked backs. Yard work and gardening are almost always forward flexing of the spine, which is particularly bad if you have Parkinson’s disease. This leads to very painful, over-stretched back muscles, which may keep you from participating in the normal exercise classes that you need to help your PD.
The following are some simple pre and post yard work survival back stretches to get you ready for all that hard work! Don’t forget to keep stretching during breaks and take time to relax the back afterward.
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A “Tail” of 4 Parkinson’s Service Dogs (Part 2)
In last week’s blog post we learned about Steve, his former service dog Jack, and his new service dog Pisces. This week we will have three more stories of my fighters and their service dogs, and how they help make their lives with Parkinson’s more manageable.
First is Steve F. and his dog Ivy, who assists him in five important ways:
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A “Tail” of 4 Parkinson’s Service Dogs (Part 1)
Several years ago, when I was teaching a Parkinson’s bootcamp class for people with young-onset PD, a man in his 50’s asked me if I could modify the workout for someone with Parkinson’s disease with HSP (Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia [basically neuropathy of the lower half of his body]) if he had a service dog to help him. This specific class was meant for very active people who do not fall. Steve explained that he couldn’t feel his feet on the ground (this is a huge fall risk), but he still tried to stay active. Of course, my heart goes out to man and his dog!
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