I woke up many times in the night, but this time I think it was probably due to my wife hacking and coughing. She seems to have picked up a cold from somewhere (probably from our granddaughter). Anyhow, I had a night free from tossing and turning and feel rested and ready to face another day. I have a fairly strong tremor this morning, principally in my arms and legs, and turn my device on before getting out of bed. Left arm and leg still have a fairly good shake going on, but right leg is fairly static and right arm is bearable. The dyskinesia in my right arm is barely noticeable this morning, and dystonia in my right foot is negligible. I’m looking forward to turning my neurostimulator up another notch later on today.
Wendy, one of the Parkinson’s nurses in Cromer, is coming to see us this morning, and she calls just after 9am to say she’s on her way.
Wendy arrives and is greeted by Willow, our black labrador. She is evidently a dog lover (having 3 of her own) so that’s a good start! Willow approves. We sit and chat over coffee, and my wife gets a lot of comfort and reassurance from Wendy, especially regarding the changes in my persona (“Ian’s still Ian, it’s Mr Parkinson you’re seeing.”), and by the time she departs is feeling a lot more positive.
We have some old friends of mine coming to stay for 3 days, so I sit and watch while my wife attempts her impression of a whirling dervish, vacuuming and mopping floors, cleaning the kitchen sink, straightening the garden furniture, before disappearing off to work for the afternoon.
I feel dystonia creeping back in my right foot, so it could be time for a little medication of the cannabis variety.
I turn my device up on the right side by 0.1v and feel no difference. It’s only when I’m getting into bed that I notice that I only have 1.7v on the right, so I hadn’t turned it up after all! What a prat! I turn it up to 1.8v and then switch it off for the night.
Immediately my tremor is back throughout my body, and I’m now wide awake. I’m lying there awake and shaking wondering if I’m ever going to drop off to sleep, wondering if this is a new sleep pattern disruption… and I fall asleep.