We have a film crew in the house this afternoon – Patient Zero Productions are coming to interview me for a documentary about cannabis, called The God Plant. This means the house has to be cleaned from top to bottom this morning (says my wife).
We get up at a reasonable time (for a Saturday), and I take the dog for her morning walk while my wife gets stuck in to the house cleaning. Then I get stuck into scripting my answers to the questions that I am going to be asked later on. I’d love to think that I could simply answer “off the cuff” as I would have done in the dim and distant past (before Parkinson’s), but I know from experience that my stream of words will dry to a trickle before grinding to an embarrassing halt.
My wife has just about got the house straight by the time the film crew arrive. Some time is spent turning the downstairs into a studio, setting up the camera and tripod and the snazzy LED light units – some very nice equipment (I’m jealous). We film 2 takes of each interview question, and a couple of supplementary questions (for which I hadn’t prepared – seemed to go alright, though!), and then I’m asked if I would demonstrate what happens when I turn my DBS off. So, I turn my DBS off, and within a few minutes become a shaking wreck of a man. The stress of being in front of the camera was already apparent, ably demonstrated by the strong tremor in my left leg, but turning off the power takes things to another dimension. Would I vape some cannabis to show the effect on my tremor? Why not… So, I vape some cannabis and we wait (10 minutes) while it takes effect. The guys are amazed at the transformation that occurs before their very eyes, and manage to capture some good footage. I switch my DBS back on again, and feel very grateful for the tingle of electricity that courses throughout my body – who would have thought that a couple of volts could feel so good?
The crew pack their gear away and depart, and my wife and I take the dog for her afternoon exercise. It’s flipping freezing outside, and I’m glad to get back in the house and light the fire.
My wife cooks us a delicious green Thai curry, and then we crack open a couple of beers and settle down in front of the telly for the evening.