Tuesday, December 6
I’ve been tired all day without an obvious cause. I’ve been hungry for a week. The two themes of last week, reduction of shuffling and a more relaxed right arm and hand, continue to develop; still sporadic but still improving.
Wednesday, December 7
I took a sitting-in-the-recliner nap of about 25 minutes and woke up utterly zombified, and that lasted about two hours! Janice points out that dopamine is normally very reduced during sleep, so I guess maybe the brain is trying to find appropriate recovery levels. Walking up mornings is not nearly so difficult.
Thursday, December 8
It is the traditional start of the Italian holiday season, and right on cue the town went from deserted to mildly bustling. I’m secretly pleased that the local effort to start shopping on November 25 failed. I like the custom of a season that is strictly defined as December 8 to January 6, it helps a bit from turning the winter holidays into a mercantile fest.
Roman assembled the water rower this morning, so I missed a morning walk, but look forward to trying the rower this evening. It is the same model as I had in Scranton and I think it will help speed the transition from Pause-oriented to Para/sympathetic modes. Time will tell.
The first use of the rower was slow but rhythmic and felt great.
Later in the evening I could feel the dopamine running out and the override kicking in. This quote describes that: “During recovery, a person… can still use the norepinephrine override if they need to, even though doing so will feel mildly unpleasant and a bit stressful – a symptoms-free reminder of the mental intensity of one’s Parkinson’s days.” (From Recovering from Parkinson’s by Janice Hadlock)
Friday, December 9
Typing today, totally terrible. Try tomorrow.
Saturday, December 10
I seem to have turned a kind of corner. While walking I feel taller even without consciously trying to keep a straight posture. Night before last I was able to get out of bed in an almost normal manner (last night I slept soundly through and didn’t have to try getting up). I feel completely healthy with mobility issues. My right arm is loose and natural much of the time. I can almost whistle. The morning walk I stayed energized for the full seven laps (garage). The evening, I ran out of dopamine at five and a half laps. Recovery time was difficult to gauge, but it lasted at least an hour. Walking around the apartment later was strong.
Sunday, December 11
The morning walk was on the sunny side of the Duomo (somewhat longer a lap than in the garage). The gait was very strong, assured, and natural until four and a half laps when I abruptly ran out of steam; recovery took several hours, but the good news with all these walks is that recovery happens. It had been a week of garage walking because of rainy weather, so the improvement in stride was very apparent compared to the last time we walked the sagrato. Typing, by the way, is remarkably strong and fluid, and although I can feel my fingers getting tired, even that is not causing chaos.
The town is full of music and lights and clowns. I walked the equivalent of ten garage laps at the Duomo, all enjoyable, all accompanied by the sweet chaos of a seven-year-old scampering around me as I did. A month ago all that random movement would have freaked out my brain. Tonight I was even able to look around as I went.
Monday, December 12
Nothing was quite as strong or as fluid as it has been, but still markedly improved over say a week ago. I had a booster shot this afternoon, and that left me a little light-headed, so we scratched the evening stroll.