A-Z Parkinson's: B

Balance-Basal Ganglia-Bed-Bladder-Blood Pressure-Bradykinesia-Breathing

Hello, lovelies. For the next while, I am running this mini-series An A-Z of Parkinson’s. These are some very irreverent takes. If you don’t want these particular letters…you can unsubscribe but still receive the normal letter every Thursday.

B

• Balance

Normally, an even distribution of weight enables someone or something to remain upright and steady.

In Parkinson’s, a mythical state that can be achieved by being strapped to a chair or on some rare occasions via a Zen-like trance attained with extreme fatigue. Often the lack of balance is mistaken for drunkenness.

PwP should explain to the uninitiated that we are in fact, pirates.

• Basal Ganglia

Part of the brain responsible for motor control -

Not, as commonly thought, mispronunciation by our American cousins, of a Mediterranean herb. Or ‘erb.

• Bed

The torture chamber to your average Parkinson’s person. Caught between wanting it more than anything and dreading the next several hours of:

restless legs, nightmares, rigidity, cramps, difficulty falling and staying asleep, yelling out while asleep, vivid dreaming, difficulty turning over in bed, waking, anxiety, racing thoughts

• Bladder (see Autonomic Dysfunction)

You either really need or can’t go at all or there’s just a little bit but that’s never enough.

Still, it’s a good excuse to get that second bathroom fitted, with a key only you have access to. Stock with books and wine.

• Blood Pressure

Parkinson’s is all about the ‘low and slow’ life. Feeling faint and dizzy is a happy addition to balance issues.

Fortunately, standing up slowly is the best approach.

• Bradykinesia

The slowness of movement and a sure sign of Parkinson’s. Affects:

facial expression, arm swing, walking, standing, most activity

Wildly unpredictable. Could be reinterpreted for the languid style of the Baudelaire flâneur.

• Breathing (see Autonomic Dysfunction)

Vital to our continued existence, so naturally it’s another thing that can go wrong:

Wearing off of meds, anxiety, dyskinesia, aspiration pneumonia, low oxygen.

If you can overcome the apathy remember to keep breathing.

Reader Suggestion: (please feel free to make suggestions :) )

• Brave

When you have Parkinson’s (or any disease) you redefine bravery.

This is the sort of thing that makes you stronger than you ever thought you could be. This is where you start out feeling like you can’t manage another step, moment or thought. Yet, again and again, you prove yourself to be stronger than you were ever meant to be.

You sift out grains of courage from the deepest parts of your being. You share your strength supporting others, sharing and giving them hope to hang on in there…even when you can only see a foggy path ahead.

You find another reason to keep going, to keep battling on through the endlessness of it all. But for others, for hope, for love you keep going.

You are brave.