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Dr. C is the familiar pseudonym for readers who visit “Possibilities with Parkinson’s.” The love of writing has spanned his careers as a research theoretician, brain rehabilitation clinician, and college professor. Dr. C was first diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson’s disease in 2014. His interest in how Parkinson’s disease can manifest itself in other body and mind symptoms has become a focused area for his research and writing. His goal is to share current medical research on how Parkinson’s can be diagnosed in early stages, and to help other early-stage Parkinson’s patients manage their disease process in a holistic healing approach.
As this chronic illness progression continues to steal away functioning, I need more support. When I previously wrote about the excellent role Mrs. Dr. C plays within the support partnership, a reader asked, “How do I get me a Mrs. Dr. C relationship?” I didn’t reply at the time.
“Good morning, Mrs. Dr. C,” says Neo, Dr. C’s imaginary talking neocortex and a frequent guest of this column. “Are you excited about the new year?” “I think so, but last year was a challenge for Dr. C. and me,” Mrs. Dr. C replies. “How so?” Neo asks. “Isn’t Dr.
To My Neurologist: In an article published at KevinMD.com, authors of a study on the experience of Parkinson’s care partners suggest that asking a patient or care partner to write a letter — instead of relying solely on verbal conversation — illuminates new aspects of the physician-patient-family relationship.
Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in 2014, I’ve been on a quest to discover scientifically validated tools that will enable me to live better with this disabling disease. My name for this toolbox, my Parkinson’s self-management program, is TBM. “T” is for threshold management, “B” is for…
To live better with Parkinson’s disease, I had to relearn how to walk – “performing” while using mindful movements instead of absent-minded walking. I had to relearn how to talk, being mindful of volume, projection, and using lots of “pause between” to clarify my thoughts before blurting. I…
The “pause between” is my new Parkinson’s self-management tool. I use it every day to help me switch from old ways of reacting to the “flicker effect” (dysregulated systems). It provides improved threshold management and mindful movements, which make life easier. The old ways are like a paved…
Armed with the tools of threshold management and mindful movements, I am ready to put the brakes on this accelerating Parkinson’s progression. Having tools and using them wisely are two different things. It’s the distinction between the design and delivery of my Parkinson’s self-management program. For me, the use…
One of the major goals I have for managing Parkinson’s disease is to decrease the frequency and intensity of the “ugly days.” Ugly days are episodic in my life but still require managing symptoms every day. If I can keep the worst of the symptoms at bay, I — and…
While searching for a way to communicate telepathically, German psychiatrist Hans Berger invented the EEG machine to measure pulsating electrical brain activity in 1924. Professing my ignorance, I know more about telepathy as “advanced empathy” from my PhD thesis than I do about electroencephalography, or EEG. Seldom do I…
Someone once uttered the maxim, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” If we apply that notion to stress we could say, “Everybody talks about stress, but nobody seems to do anything about it.” This seems particularly true when Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and their…
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