Sorry 'Bout This, But...

If you've already changed your bookmarks to THIS site... change 'em again!

If you're subscribed through a feed or Google Reader or anything like that, the change has been made FOR you.  But if you're one of the few who manually changed your bookmarks to this site, I've found a better place to house my new blog.

Change your bookmarks to "http://parkybill.wordpress.com"

Sorry to do this to you, but Wordpress just has a MUCH better blog interface, is capable of doing more, and is a lot less "buggy" than Blogger.

This will be my last entry on THIS site.  I've already closed the OLD site.  So join me at Parky Bill's Parkinson's Disease Place, bookmark it, and come on back!

It's On the Truck, the Truck Just Left the Dock, and I Promise Not to... (you know the rest)

Just got a call from "the girl who handles Golden Technologies."  Within the hour, 2-1/2 hours, what's the diff, right?

She gave me the name of the shipping company and the tracking number.  The rest I had to dig up myself.

The bed left Kingston, PA at 12:25 this afternoon, not on the 23rd like the guy from EMed said it would.

According to the trucking company's website, the bed should be ready for delivery tomorrow.  I'm guessing it's more likely that they'll call me tomorrow to set up a delivery time for later in the week.

Whatever.  At least I know where my bed is.

And YOU know what kind of customer service you'll get from EMed if you ever decide to buy a product from them.

WHERE THE HELL IS THE BED I PAID FOR?

Well, I promised ‘em I’d do it, so here it is…

WHERE THE HELL IS MY @##$%# BED???

If you’re a Person With Parkinson’s like I am, and you’re considering the purchase of an adjustable bed, they’ve got what really looks like a nice on on the website for EMed Hospital Beds.  I purchased the Golden Technologies Standard Series Adjustable Bed. I got it with the visco foam mattress and side rails.  I paid what I think is a very nice price for it (seen it costing much more on other websites).

When I placed the order on Dec. 20, they had a little icon saying “orders placed before 3 pm will be shipped the same day.”  After I placed the order, that icon was gone, replaced by one that said “orders ship in 1 to 2 business days” over an icon that said “Free Shipping.

It's Awards Time!

What better way to mark the end of a year than with an award!  And if you've earned this award, my friend, you truly deserve recognition.

It's the..

2010 Parky Bill's Parkinson's Place

Executive Dysfunction

Hall of Fame Award

As we all know, executive dysfunction is a harbinger of a more global dementia in Parkinson's disease.  It starts out silly and turns serious.  One day you're putting the car key in the door lock and wondering why the door won't open, the next day you're putting DVD's in the microwave to watch movies.

Now, to qualify for this award, you must answer "Yes" to at least 4 of these 10 questions.

Everything's Better Now... Except...

OK, the tremor seems to have straightened itself out.  Near as I can figure, I must have just had some temporary imbalance that got fixed with the next two doses of Stalevo.  But when I woke up this morning, at a time when I'm at my lowest level of dopamine, no tremor.  So we'll say that's taken care of.

That's the good news.

The bad news... I was taking my 6pm Stalevo last night.  Only I was taking it at 7:30 because I had forgotten to take it at 6.  I filled up a glass of water, took the pill, swallowed about half the glass...

Now, the next step would be to dump the remaining water in the sink and put the glass on the counter.

I dumped the water onto the counter and put the glass into the sink.

PDQ-39 Continues to Move in Wrong Direction

I haven’t done the Parkinson’s Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQ-39) since August. I continue to show a steady decline in self-reported symptoms. Lower numbers are better, symptom-wise.

In the area of Mobility, I’ve gone from a score of 82.5 in June to 92.5 now. That’s a 12.12 percent increase.

In Activities of Daily Living, I’ve gone from 29.16 in June to 33.33 now. That’s a 14.3 percent increase.

An Unexpected Christmas 'Gift' -- TREMOR!!!

I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease nearly 11 years ago.  And for all that time, tremor has never been a problem for me.  Every now and then, just a dab in my right thumb, maybe my forefinger.

Today is Christmas.  I was just settling down to plow through a delicious prime rib sammich, when all of a sudden my right hand starts shaking.  Also my left hand.  They don't shake all the time, as you'll see in the video.