Month: December 2020

(Living with Parkinson’s) ©

by

Sam and Phyllis Turner

12.10 – 12.18.2020

Angels in our midst.

12.09.2020: PM: Salisbury Steak with broccoli and mushrooms.  I baked the whole thing for my birthday. PJ’s leg was bothering her. I let her rest. We may have rain tonight.

02.10.2020: 0530: (seven hours of sleep) Parkinson’s people tend to have interrupted sleep.

Fatigue & Sleep | Parkinson’s Disease

www.michaeljfox.org › news › fatigue-sleep

I keep a daily PD journal that I share with my PC, Neurologist, and my gastroenterologist. Generally, I sleep for about five to seven hours per night.

From 1998 through 2018, I had sleep apnea. As I lost weight (40 lbs.) my snoring lessoned. I finally put my   CPAP away. Swombo will tell me if my snoring wakes her. (So far, so good.)

I woke to light rain this morning. My gage indicated only a trace of rain. With the early morning clouds, I didn’t take a chance and set the watering system on a 24-hour delay. Now, watch: It’ll probably clear up.

0900: It’s sprinkling again. Clouds are circling us. 54º   I got the Christmas lights working! (Thanks to ACE.)

This is a good day to stay inside and write! I’ve been doing just that, blowing the dust off my brain and reviewing the four short stories to see if they would be better as a novel instead of four separate episodes.

 We watched One Night Only Broadway clips from performances that can’t be seen since Broadway is dark. No one has been paid since April or May. Donations can be made at BroadwayCares.org/help2020

Hanukkah: We are not Jewish.  However, we have a Menorah that we use to remind us of the special  “angels” in our lives. Except for the Shamash, each year our list changes.

This evening, we started with the Shamash that we named in honor of our son, Robert,  who died at age 23 on July 2, 1997. The first of eight candles is for all the Covid deaths. Our prayers are for their families.

12.11.2020:0600: Awake three times last night reliving pleasant childhood memories.

Here’s a long but important list of vaccines that are being tested including some surprises.  Well documented.
https://www.institutefornaturalhealing.com/issues/ih_december2020.html

Storyteller Angels. Larry and Virginia start their Hanukkah evening. Virginia has Native American Storyteller dolls surrounding their Menorah.

The figurines are a variation of the Pueblo Storyteller Dolls. The eyes are closed as they remember their story and the mouth is open as the doll tells (or sings) its story.

Our first Menorah was given to us by PJ’s sister, Ruth. I had an 8^th-grade art class creating storytellers back in 1986. The idea was to make the storyteller and write the story. There were a few students who never took the finished pieces home.  I managed to rescue these at the end of the year. No name or period is on the pieces.  I can credit them only as Townsend Student artists – unknown. Around 1986. The storyteller was usually a grandparent with children on their lap.

A JOY ANGEL: Virginia Mann –  Art Teacher – long retired –

                                       JOY!

Still full of Joy
!

There is a special bond that middle school teachers have.  In our case, the art classes that we facilitated. She was at Utterback Middle School; I was at Townsend Middle School. Years after retirement she still radiates joy and excitement which she passed on to her students.  This made her classes fun for both the student and the teacher/facilitator. We still live by that philosophy: If it isn’t fun, change what you are doing. As Vivian Greene said: Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Phyllis was that kind of teacher when she taught second grade in Hawthorne, California, Little Creek, Virginia, and at Sewell Elementary School.

Paster Jim (St. Francis in the Foothills, UMC) spoke of the importance of JOY in our life.

Phyllis and Virginia know how to speak JOY!  Larry and I are lucky husbands.

*   *   *

This morning answering Margaret Ann’s journal And Furthermore…:  You are right on target with the poem. Think before I turn around. Think before I get up – (or sit for that matter). Watch that curb.  PJ and I are so careful.  We know it can happen when we least expect it.  M.J. Fox starts his book with: “I’m going down. It’s a flash fall. Vertical to horizontal in a blink.  

We practiced balancing in PD class this morning with our eyes closed. 

IT STARTED WITH A FALL

I say all accidents are freak accidents

because they aren’t planned.

When we are older,

as careful as we think we are being,

as often as we tell ourselves not to rush,

to take our time,

it doesn’t take much

to throw us off balance—

a patch of gravel on cement,

an uneven sidewalk,

even waving to someone

can distract us from our primary job

of walking safely.

Copyright © 2020 Margaret Ann Adams

Steven, PJ, Richard, Sam after PD exercise ready to celebrate. See our empty dishes. Delicious! Made by Steven!

12.13.2020: 0500: Stretching – Church and Zoom.

1430: Joe dropped off some produce from his garden and showed me his additions to his truck – a back-up camera and a stereo system with two bass speakers. The first sound for me was Take Five with Dave Brubeck.  It felt like the truck was jumping off the curb! I forgot to take pictures, obviously.

Julie came by later and picked up her share of the produce. She helped Phyllis with the use of her Minnie Mouse watch.  

Night Three: For all our childhood teachers. Our candle burns for you.

We watched another segment of Somebody Feed Phil. 0930: “To sleep, perchance to dream.”

12.14.2020: 0630: Overcast this morning. Of course! It’s the first day of the Orionid meteor shower. Best viewed in early mornings with clear skies.  

Night Four: Personal friends and relations who have passed over. AND those who are still alive.

12.15.2020: 0300: Out of the dark comes this face!

Good thing I didn’t wake Swombo!  We’ve observed brilliant meteor showers in the past, so missing this one is no biggy.

 Up to see the Orionid Meteor shower. 38º. I had two (2) jackets on. All that plus techno night sky on my cell. No sign of a meteor. Thirty minutes was long enough.

I’ll spend this quiet time writing on my CIP. I started from the beginning and worked forward reading and fitting things together, catching up on the story, much of which I have forgotten.

1300: We had two excellent meetings, today.  ALOHA with Zoom with captioning! Turns out Zoom is providing captioning for free. Also, we discussed the new Apple watches that can tell when the wearer is perpendicular to the floor and when they go horizontal (as in falling). Within a few seconds, if the wearer does not respond, it calls 911. PJ has an Apple watch. She has to learn how it works. I don’t know about my Android.

At 1400, we clicked over to our Parkinson’s Support group. The topics ranged from exercise to medications to painting walls. One member is a nurse who told how crowded the hospital is and how short-handed they are.  Another member said that he got additional exercise painting his walls and emptying the dishwasher. (I feel the same way about the dishwasher.) We had eleven members there. It is refreshing to see each other.

1800: PJ fixed the dinner and I baked the Apple-cranberry crumble. Swombo said I should have peeled the apples. Heck! I baked them for thirty-five minutes. I can smell it!

We watched the final of THE VOICE.

Night Five: To our greater family of (The) Compassionate Friends who have suffered the loss of a child or sibling. We walk the Valley with you.

12.16.2020: We watched the Great Lighting Contest. 

Night Six: For Julie and Chris, Joe and Jessa, and Amy.

For Julie for taking on responsibilities far beyond required, and continuing to be a thoughtful mother to Sabrina and Zach. We light our candle for you, Chris, and your family.

 For Joe and Jessa who provide a healthy and secure home for their three offsprings: Bekah who works in a children’s hospital in Chicago;  Rachael who is in her junior year at Northern Arizona University, and Ethan who is a Junior at La Cienega High School. We light our candle for you and your family.

For Amy, who is a midwife for so many mothers. And her daughter, Jessica, who does  Massage Therapy. We light our candle for you.

1400: I completed a three-hour Survey #7 of the MJFox program. I do this three times a year relating to the multi-symptom changes in my Parkinson’s. 

Thank you for completing your seventh Fox Insight study visit! Each time you complete your Fox Insight surveys, you’re helping us learn more about life with Parkinson’s disease. Best, The Fox Insight Study Team

12.17.2020: I watched an hour and a half lecture on music therapy and PD Exciting research.

1400: Honey Ginger Salmon.  Swombo approves.  We shared in the preparation. I cooked the salmon and baked the sweet potatoes; she cooked the Bok Choy and mushrooms. The preparation took 35-minutes.

After dinner, we watched the news and another episode of Somebody Feed Phil. This time he was in Buenos Aries, Argentina. I think we like to suffer. We watch all the food preparation, and the consumption while we finish our protein bar.

Night Seven: For the Quail Run Writers AND my teacher-mentors in writing, our personal Doctors, and all front line medical personal. We light our candle for you!.

12.18.2020: 0530: We had a couple of errands today before noon. After PJ’s appointment, we stopped by Kohl’s to buy a pair of cargo pants for me. My old pair is a size 44.  I now wear a size 36. It’s taken about three years to reach that level.  It may be because of PD and that we no longer have dairy products on our menu. No ice cream in the evenings. None of it was on a particular diet; we just changed our diet.

Night Eight: For us  (Phyllis and Sam). We are so very thankful, incredibly grateful. Unbelievably blessed.  We light our candle in thanks for our Creator, for the Spirit of Love, Peace, and Harmony that we strive for each year – and for all of YOU who read this Maytag Moment: Thank you.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

DECEMBER 21: LOOK WEST AFTER SUNSET. JUPITER & Saturn so close. Get binoculars. Almost looks like one bright star.   Click on this site:

The 400-Year Rhythm of Great Conjunctions – Sky & Telescope – Sky & Telescope (skyandtelescope.org)