JON: It’s been an odd sort of a week. The good news is that the local authority has decided to pay for my grab pole – and not just for loan, as my occupational therapist had told me was most likely, but to have and to hold onto forever. Even better, it is proving very useful for getting into and out of bed. I suspect that I’m rather slower than the average Olympic athlete but I think I would now stand a decent chance of getting out of bed in case of a fire. Is there an Olympic getting-out-of-bed event?
Less good, I’ve been accused of becoming dull – ME! Who’d have thought it? OK, snoring on the couch whilst holding a book may not count as multi-tasking, but it is a pleasant way of passing the time. In my defense, it was a rather dull book, and I had at least got out of bed.
To try to become less boring, I have decided to take up my interest in photography again. I’ve been trying for some time to get pictures of fluids mixing, such as the swirling patterns created when you add milk to coffee. I’ve had a go using ambient light and with flashgun(s), but so far the perfect shot eludes me. So a quick trip to the local DIY store to buy halogen lights and a good rummage in my room to find suitable cables should soon see me sorted out soon. I think I might even be getting a little bit excited about the project. Watch this space.
MARIE: As the intelligent reader might have surmised, it was indeed I who accused Jon of becoming boring. All his pastimes are passive – reading, listening to the radio, watching TV. While they may be good books and intelligent programmes, I don’t think that’s enough to feed a mind. Particularly since much of it seems to go in one ear and out another so Jon often can’t actually remember enough detail to have a worthwhile conversation afterwards.
Jon’s lack of energy and lack of initiative has been a recurring subject in this blog. Our psychologist says these issues are common in Parkinson’s and has tried to give Jon / us various tools and ideas to overcome the inertia, but to little effect. He now believes medication may be the way forward, so in two weeks’ time we are seeing a psychiatrist colleague of the psychologist (who cannot himself prescribe drugs).
I hope this will help. I suspect the issues are partly direct effects of Parkinson’s and partly to do with the extremely fraught way in which Jon exited the world of paid work. This left him with a dented self-image and self-confidence that makes withdrawal into the soft armchair of geriatric decline seem like a comfortable solution. But he has the capacity for so much more, and it would be entirely wonderful if the two psychos between them can bring that out again.
Less good, I’ve been accused of becoming dull – ME! Who’d have thought it? OK, snoring on the couch whilst holding a book may not count as multi-tasking, but it is a pleasant way of passing the time. In my defense, it was a rather dull book, and I had at least got out of bed.
To try to become less boring, I have decided to take up my interest in photography again. I’ve been trying for some time to get pictures of fluids mixing, such as the swirling patterns created when you add milk to coffee. I’ve had a go using ambient light and with flashgun(s), but so far the perfect shot eludes me. So a quick trip to the local DIY store to buy halogen lights and a good rummage in my room to find suitable cables should soon see me sorted out soon. I think I might even be getting a little bit excited about the project. Watch this space.
MARIE: As the intelligent reader might have surmised, it was indeed I who accused Jon of becoming boring. All his pastimes are passive – reading, listening to the radio, watching TV. While they may be good books and intelligent programmes, I don’t think that’s enough to feed a mind. Particularly since much of it seems to go in one ear and out another so Jon often can’t actually remember enough detail to have a worthwhile conversation afterwards.
Jon’s lack of energy and lack of initiative has been a recurring subject in this blog. Our psychologist says these issues are common in Parkinson’s and has tried to give Jon / us various tools and ideas to overcome the inertia, but to little effect. He now believes medication may be the way forward, so in two weeks’ time we are seeing a psychiatrist colleague of the psychologist (who cannot himself prescribe drugs).
I hope this will help. I suspect the issues are partly direct effects of Parkinson’s and partly to do with the extremely fraught way in which Jon exited the world of paid work. This left him with a dented self-image and self-confidence that makes withdrawal into the soft armchair of geriatric decline seem like a comfortable solution. But he has the capacity for so much more, and it would be entirely wonderful if the two psychos between them can bring that out again.
1 comment:
so why can't you get out of bed? Dead legs? We had to get a railing to keep him from rolling out - which has happened a number of times.
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