Learning to accept and adapt to the changes in my body and mind had now become an inherent feature in my life. Spontaneity was one of the early victims to get targeted, in so much that I had a fixed schedule as to when I took my medication. To maintain some effort of a balanced lifestyle it was imperative that I took my medication at the same time each day and adhrered to the schedule in place. This obviously made it difficult to slip off to the pub in the afternoon and have a creamy pint of guinness, one of life's great pleasures!
Missing out on my medication at the prescribed time could have any number of effects on both my physical and mental well-being, namely, dyskinesia, problems with my balance (nigh impossible to carry 2 pints of guinness down from the bar), frozen face (Hypomimia), brain fog and low moods. Parkinson's was now impacting my life in a lot of ways and it occupied my thoughts and plans constantly.
It was around this time that my father was hospitalised and I spent a lot of time visiting him there, things did not always run smoothly there and I found it quite an anxious and stressful period.On one such occassion my father was transferred to another hospital and the accompanying medical notes were those of another man! I also found it hard to watch him lying there never knowing if he was ever going to recuperate and return home. Stress and anxiety are almost like little toggles on my left arm frequently weakening and freezing my left arm and leg, even such innocuous tasks as trying to get my keys out of my pocket became a fully focussed effort with my mind locked on that one task.
Meanwhile the obsessive compulsive behaviour continued, with endless browsing on the laptop, which resulted in sitting up late on the sofa and on many occassions not going to bed at all. Falling asleep on the sofa at 6am, then rising at 7am and going off to work exhausted and bleary eyed.
My father passed away shortly after his 90th birthday, (his father lived until he was 97, longevity in the genes it appears), this was a very sad time in my life and I had I suppose always dreaded the time when both my parents were gone. It felt as if a generation had ended and I now had to step up and fill those shoes.