First PD "diagnosis": 2013
My first visit to a neurologist was in 2013 in Pretoria. My GP recommended it, because since 2012 I had complained of a tremor in my right leg whenever I urinated. The neurologist subsequently requested an MRI scan.
A few weeks later, my wife and I entered his consulting rooms. He had a brief chat and then he asked me for the MRI images. I gave him the envelope and waited in anticipation. He spent a minute studying the scan then asked me to walk across the room and back to my seat. Then he observed:
- The MRI scan was "clear", so he could rule out any other conditions, such as a tumor;
- However, my walking action indicated that I had Parkinson's Disease (PD): I was dragging my right leg slightly, not swinging my right arm and PD could be the reason for my "leg tremor"; and
- He prescribed chronic medication for my PD - I accepted the diagnosis but indicated my unwillingness to use the prescription, due to generally unpredictable side effects of PD drugs.
Early daze
The neurologist's 2013 diagnosis based on my walking got me thinking. I was at the pinnacle of my career after 36 years in higher education. I had 13 years' experience in the theatre (M.A.), 10 years in computer-assisted education (M.Ed.) and after 7 years' reflective practice I had developed an instrument to assess writing (D.Ed.). Could I draw from this higher education experience to fight my PD? Maybe...
Also, I was a "practitioner researcher", generating personal theory from my actual practice (my PhD has this evidence). Could I challenge PD with a PhD 😊? Could I, as a practitioner researcher, eventually generate personal theories based on my own observations of PD? Maybe...
Many challenges emerged, based on the familiar (stuff I would have known for a long time) and with what I was comfortable (stuff that would not lead to confrontation). If I were to be a PD warrior, then there appeared to be four, proactive challenges before my retirement in December, 2017.
- Could I strengthen my mental capacity in order to challenge my PD before my retirement?
- Would improved physical ability help me attack my PD before my retirement?
- Could I shield my state of health and slow down my PD before my retirement?
- Could I generate personal theories in support of my experience as a PD warrior?
Warrior training 2013-2017
After the "walking" diagnosis I decided to avoid taking PD prescription drugs for as long as possible and to actively seek alternative approaches to fighting my PD. I would try to use my PhD to fight the PD for as long as possible. Let me unpack two of the four areas of warrior training in this post.
1. Mental Capacity
I started to have short-term memory lapses in my mid-fifties. I came across colleagues with similar issues and we often talked about the challenges associated with ageing and how it could impact our own teaching and learning. We wondered about using technology to help our tired brains, so, instead of typing maybe we should use "Siri" or "hi Google". However, we all agreed that this could lead to greater reliance on technology and less on brain power, so that was not a solution but likely to have the opposite effect.
So I decided to try the following technology-free approaches, some of which were work-related and ideal tools to build my mental capacity to wage war on my PD.
MIND MAPS As a professional development specialist (2002-2017), I was a facilitator of teaching, learning and assessment skills for academic staff but in 2009 I shifted my focus. Instead of using a laptop or tablet to record minutes of meetings I used pen and paper-based mind-maps to select main, sub-ideas and details! As secretary of two university committees as well as a professional body off-campus, I had opportunities to practise. By 2010 I had become proficient at this form of note-taking and my confidence may have helped me confront my PD. I continued using this skill till 2017.
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| 14 November 2023 |
It is significant that I type slowly with my left hand and complete 95% of my daily activities with my left too but, occasionally, I am still able to write legibly with my right hand. Hmm! PD only has a negative effect on my handwriting, when I have to fill out a full-page form by hand using a clipboard!!
Apparently there is a lot going on in the brain whilst we're writing. There is also useful research on note taking and the advantage of handwriting compared to a keyboard, dear reader.
2. Physical Ability.
Most people with Parkinson's know that on multiple fronts, exercise can "help both motor (gait, balance, strength) and nonmotor (depression, apathy, fatigue, constipation) aspects of Parkinson's disease as well as secondary complications of immobility (cardiovascular, osteoporosis)" (van der Kolk & King, 2013). I agree: the more I avoid daily exercise, the harder it is to fight against my PD. Sigh!
A few friends who were diagnosed with PD in 2018, have managed to maintain regular, intense exercise with swimming and long distance hiking regimes while on PD medication. I stopped power walking in 2015, retired in 2017, stopped going to the gym in 2019 and stopped driving in 2022. Now I go for short walks and cycle indoors twice weekly. My exercise habit is broken and I have weakened significantly.
The last two warrior training observations will appear in Post 51. Till then, Happy Holidays!
