July 28, 2016

Today, Thursday, had a bit of good news.  I got to the dentist, without an appointment, and he did some adjustments to my false teeth (lower plate).  Unfortunately I expect to be back as this one item won’t cure all my troubles.  Now I have to do something about my speech.  I’m getting really hard to understand.

As well, today, I got my three-month injection of estrogen which is keeping my prostate cancer under control.  My family doctor does the injection and she had a report from another doctor that my Parkinson’s is progressing very slowly and my medications are working satisfactorily.  Hooray, I am dying slower. 

I worked in the garden with Jan for the remainder of the afternoon and haven’t felt the extreme exhaustion that such activity often causes.

July 29^th

My health seems to remain on a fairly level but a bit uneven plain.  I don’t feel sick/unwell in any part of my body but this morning my walking was a little shuffley and uneven but improved by the time I got to Findlay Centre for a work-out.  In the afternoon when we worked in the garden all was fine.  I had my usual tired spell after supper, but that also has cleared up.

At my age and health condition I’m not going to last for ever.  Next week Jan and I are going to do some planning for the “what if” part and are going to see our lawyer for advice.

Canadians always talk about the weather:  Today cloudy with a breeze off the water – good working conditions for the garden.  Tomorrow possible showers but fairly warm – continuing for the weekend.

Happy Canada Day!

July 24, 2016

It is a bright sunny day and not too hot – after a thunder and lightning storm the night before.  Since this is supposed to be at least a little about Parkinson’s and not a weather report, I had better get down to business.

At present and recently there have been only two changes I my symptoms.  The first, and I think I have mentioned it before, is the extreme tiredness I get at the end of the day.  It is frequently a factor if I have been working hard during the day, but sometimes even when I haven’t been so busy.  I feel so exhausted that I can hardly put one foot ahead of the other.  Lying down for an hour or so seems to revitalize me and I can feel remarkably well after a short rest.  The second is equally interesting from a different perspective.  One of my first and obvious symptoms of PD was that my right had shook.  Now it hardly ever does.  I am surprised that the shaking has virtually stopped. 

Another, but unrelated, situation has happened in connection with my prostate cancer.  I have been attending the Cancer Clinic in Halifax for years and been examined by several doctors.  Last week, as my PSA score has remained very low, the Doctor in charge dismissed me from the clinic.  He will take me back if or when needed.  I still have two cancer doctors that are not associated with the clinic, so I have not been left out in the cold.

The deck is finally done.  The last item was a load of dirt to fill in behind the moved stone wall and very fortunately I had help with that.  My grandson Steven, his wife Tanya and eleven week old Marshall are visiting for a few days and both were more than willing to help move the top soil.  We also started to clean up a rough corner at the back of the yard and will plant grass seed there sometime soon.

A few more guests will be coming.  Susanne and Jeff have bought a house            not too far away in Dartmouth and Susanne will be coming for a look at work that needs to be done before Isabelle (and friend) can move in for university in September.  Howard and his family will arrive in August for a week, but will be staying at Heather’s place.  It has been and will continue to be an interesting summer.

July 15, 2016

July 15, 2016

My blog-site has been neglected for too long.  There are two reasons/excuses.  First, nothing very dramatic has happened to my health and second I have changed from Windows 7 to 10 on the computer and things aren’t so easy to find.  I will try to be more regular (that sounds like a bathroom expression).

There has been one sort of good news.  Dr. Patil discharged me from the Cancer Clinic at the hospital.  This simply means that my prostate cancer is stable, not that it is cured.  My PSA score is between 2.5 and 3.5 and is staying there, at least for the present.  He said that if I need him, just call.  On the other hand, I still have two other cancer doctors that I see every six months, but they are not part of the main cancer clinic.

Yesterday I saw my Parkinson’s doctor and he seemed satisfied with my progress - in not going down-hill faster, I suppose.  When I visit him we do a series of little physical tests which illustrate how fast I am degenerating – or not – and I seem to have kept up my speed and dexterity for the moment.  At least he didn’t order any change in my several pills. 

For the past several weeks I have been working on rebuilding and extending our deck at the back of the house – with the view down the harbour.  It was strange and pleasant to find that by adding only about three and a half feet to he depth, the place seems twice as large.  I put in the cement bases, the vertical support posts, the support beam and the joists.  Bruce (and Heather) came from Sarnia for three days and between us we removed the old decking and installed the new and also constructed the three foot high railing.  He is a very handy helper, making all the necessary fittings where decking had to be cut to fit around posts.  I have been finishing up the final little bits and rebuilding the rock wall that kept a garden in place.  It was disturbed by the building going on around it.

Mainly, when I am feeling good, it is almost like I had nothing wrong with me.  Other times, not too frequent, I still have my feet seeming stuck to the ground and am shuffling around the house hanging on to furniture, door frames and walls.  The only major change has been that after a big day of construction, I am literally exhausted.  I can hardly lift my feet to get anywhere.  Usually, if I lie down for a half-hour to an hour, I get over it and can feel pretty good, but the excessive tiredness is hard to deal with.

Today, Friday, I did a limited work-out at the Findlay Centre and had a coffee at Tim Hortons with Heather after – our usual operation.

Now I have a small project to do making a door or some sort of a closing at the open end of the new section under the deck.  I really enjoy having these projects and am not very happy when I have to lie down and rest to compensate.

I will try and be more regular in my reporting.