I awoke this morning feeling exhausted before I’ve done a thing. I had a bad night and woke many times. I checked my Fitbit to confirm, and it agreed with me. Apparently I had been awake and/or restless 18 times last night.
When I get my act together and get myself downstairs, I try calling Joseph at the NHNN again. Same story. Phone rings and rings and goes to answerphone. No point in leaving a message, messages aren’t being picked up. Another day of sitting in and waiting for the phone to ring. I also have to be here for a delivery for my wife’s soft furnishings business, so this morning my wife has taken the dog for a walk so that I don’t have to.
I occupy myself by reading The Metro online, checking my email, drinking my tea – exciting stuff; don’t know how I manage to remain so calm. I resist changing my settings from Group ‘A’ to Group ‘B’ until the tremor has got to the point where it’s driving me mad. Group ‘B’ settings are still superior as far as tremor control goes, but since I reduced the right hand voltage to moderate my dyskinesia the tremor in my right side is still troublesome. So long as the dyskinesia remains at its current level, I’ll leave it until bedtime before changing back to Group ‘A’.
I’m in desperate need of a shave and a haircut, so that’s my task for this afternoon. I had my wife trim my hair with the clippers last time because I felt a little nervous about my lumpy mis-shapen head, but I’m feeling a little bolder today. My beard has grown beyond the stage of just shaving it off, so I take the clippers to it first. Mission accomplished without incident, so I proceed with the hair cut. It takes me a little while, but I manage it and am happy with the result, even though it exposes my lumps and bumps again. Now to shave.. this proves to be interesting, because my dyskinesia kicks in unexpectedly and I slice a chunk off my chin. Blood everywhere, and it just doesn’t want to stop. Oh well, as the founder member of The Parkinson’s Wet Shaving & Blood Letting Society (Norfolk Division) I can’t say I’m surprised.
I clean the bathroom, empty the dishwasher and walk the dog (because it’s now gone 5pm and I’ve given up hope that the hospital will call).
When I get back home, I’m suddenly overcome with tiredness. My speech is slurred, and I feel as weak as a kitten. I think an early night is in order.