living with parkinsons Archives - Page 13 of 15

July 26, 2015

Service Dogs on the Wall

It Takes a Village To Raise a Service Dog. From the town crazy lady (and her wacky idea that a Great Dane can help with mobility) to the skilled trainers, dedicated volunteers and supportive neighbors (living nearby or just a camera’s blink away), each plays a role in bringing up a pup. When I met Thomas, he lived with a community at the Service Dog Project (SDP) that gave him his name (a volunteer, Jackie, I’m told) his socializing (Hillary’s mom had him for many a sleepover), and his training (Colleen, Hillary and Megan). That community welcomed me with open arms and a lead with a monkey fist attached. It was my turn to learn to take care of the service dog that would take care of me. The idea of telling the story of this village hit me like the side of a barn. Or, more accurately, the front […]

July 29, 2015

Opting for Art

In combination with moving to the other coast, it made sense to purge, downsize, cleanse as well. Who needs all this space, all this stuff? All that’s involved with simplifying is actually quite complicated. The closer the moving date gets, the more I’m relying on yoga to soften the edges of all there is to do. The saying, “We’re human beings, not human doings” doesn’t shorten the packing lists or clean the house for showings. Then again, nothing I “do” will make the perfect couple step forward, people I’ll feel good about handing my house to, folks I can trust will continue to feed the birds. Nothing I “do” will make my meds work better so I can “do” more. In areas where I have no control, “doing” more isn’t going to grant me control. Yoga practice brings me back to an awareness that I can control how I respond. I […]

September 2, 2015

Clouding Up

Packing, purging, plane ride, pacific time shift, PD. Not only is Sir Thomas a stellar service dog through the layered stages of my move across the country, he reminds me of what’s truly important. We spent the morning watching cloud shapes.

September 6, 2015

Go West, Young. Man: More Travels with Tommy

West Coast Arrival Sir Thomas and I are adjusting to PST the best way we both know how: lots of naps. We’re also getting plenty of fresh air – and it really does feel fresh. We’ve been on quite a few walks here on this western coast. East Coast Departure My husband, son, and adorable rescue mutt (not to say husband and son aren’t adorable, too), left two weeks before I did and drove across the country, Though Thomas wondered where the family had gone, he liked the one-on-one time with only me (and the pet tortoise) in the house. The trip appealed to my sense of adventure, but only for a minute or two. The thought of being crammed in a car for five full days in a row made me shudder. Didn’t put the tortoise through that either – he got Fed Ex’d! Tommy was, of course, stellar in the airport and all through the flight. […]

October 7, 2015

Island Living

A dame with a Dane walks into the library… I’m not kidding. Being the new kid on the Island, I’m trying to settle in. For me, the official I Have Arrived document (following my driver’s license) is a library card. After asking where the library is located, Sir Thomas and I ventured out. We heard the usual greetings as we entered — Handsome! You Could Put a Saddle on Him. I Love Your Dog! Thomas and I continued toward the information desk. The librarian took one look, rose from her chair with her hand extended and said, “You must be Renee.” Small Island, I thought. With a big smile, the librarian added, “The Dame with a Dane.” It turns out that the delightful Service Dog Project CP* I’d enjoyed lunch with here on the Island is the president of the Friends of the Library. Small world. It may take me […]

January 18, 2016

What’s His Name

After three-plus years, I continue to be taken aback when strangers see Sir Thomas and me, acknowledge that they’ve read the various Do Not Pet, Mobility Dog, Ignore Me I’m Working tags and patches and, yet, they still ask his name. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s a friendly request made out of genuine curiosity, My hesitation in answering stems from that one percent who’ll then call out his name. It takes only once to distract him, leaving me to crash into the avocado display at the grocery store or face-plant onto the floor at the Delta check-in counter. For safety’s sake, I often respond with a smile and a fake name. Today, while enjoying a breakfast-served-all-day lunch with my husband and our son, Tommy dutifully napped on his mat beside our table. A couple stepped in and as they passed by, I sensed their pace slowing. “Aw.” I heard and […]

March 1, 2016

Insta-Like

I click the Like icon routinely on friend’s Facebook posts or their comments on mine. It’s a rare moment, however, when my internal Like button gets pressed and that immediate, undeniably warm sensation whooshes in and says, Yes. Good. Life is better because that person is here living it, too. In yoga, our awareness opens us, teaches us to step back from our egos and witness the Like in all. Well, I’m not there, yet. Maybe after the election. In the meantime, there are people such as Meg Bernard. I haven’t met her, have never spoken with her, don’t know where she lives. Still, she has a message and such likeability worth sharing. Almost makes me want to staple her name to a stick and stand on the street corner urging you to read Meg’s blog (click to read her blog) and cast your ballot for more people like her.

June 11, 2016

Happy Birthday, Sir T

Look who’s turning five. Among the myriad causes for celebration of such a marvelous event lingers one I’d rather see fizzle. No. Die. And quickly. Sir Thomas’s fifth year among us marks three-and-a-half years of partnering with me. In that time, strangers have been taking our picture. That’s 42 months. Make that 182 weeks. Shall I continue? Okay, in days, we’re talking 1,274. Surely, you say, his handsome face isn’t snapped on someone’s cell phone every day? No. There have been, however, numerous days when more than one click of some unknown camera captures our likeness. Therein lies my issue with the puparazzi. First, it is not our ‘likeness’ that is being captured. Second, consider that word capture. Our images adorn the digital photo albums of people’s vacations (tourist camera-at-ready stroll-by shots), individual’s wow-ya collections (the stop-and-comment crowd who must show their neighbor, brother-in-law, dentist’s sister’s uncle) who pull out […]

September 13, 2016

The WPC: My Big, Fat PD Wedding

I’m packing up a folder full of schedules and notes on all that I plan to partake in at the World Parkinson Congress (WPC) next week. Sir Thomas’s toenails are trimmed (he knows something’s up) and I located and even used the iron before adding a couple of blouses to the suitcase. I can’t help but feel as though I’m off to attend a giant wedding. Like with a modern event where the bride and groom have shared equally in the planning, patients and practitioners of this event have both contributed to the preparations. And, when guests arrive, we aren’t relegated to sit on one side or another. This multi-day gathering encourages intermingling among all those related to Parkinson’s disease (PD), from individuals living with it to researchers seeking to strike it from our lives. There are speeches, toasts, even dancing, and the fully-stocked program is the buffet table of tasty […]

January 3, 2017

Flu-like

The flu isn’t particular. It didn’t skip me because of the Parkinson’s. Nope, an equal-opportunity virus, it has me lying on the couch coughing up a lung same as anyone else in its path. I could blame holiday travel strain. Or not. The past week in San Francisco presented a mix of utter delights (restaurants at every turn – Burmese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Californian) and unusually warm and sunny walks (across the Golden Gate Bridge and along Castro Street). Admittedly, there were upended schedules and unpredictable circumstances. But what traveler doesn’t face a few obstacles? The balancing act between being away from home and being on an adventure, I’ve learned, requires adaptations. To keep the scales tilting toward the joyful, for example, I factor in nap times and often pack my own blanket (my PD gets me tangled up in puffy duvets). Among a litany of modifications, the most helpful has […]