Parkinson's and walking

 

Well, here we are at another Friday so here is a bit more about Parkinson’s Disease, this week we are looking a bit more at walking with Parkinson’s.

There are a number of very specific and somewhat strange symptoms that can affect one’s walking.  The most common would be what is called start hesitancy, this is when someone with Parkinson’s goes to take a step and can’t, this is because the automatic movement of lifting one foot off the ground doesn’t happen.  The reason for this seems to be that the disease makes it difficult to induce the reflex reaction to shift the centre of gravity on to one foot so the other can be lifted and moved forward.

This doesn’t happen all the time but when it does it becomes near impossible to walk, because it comes and goes some family, or friends may think the person isn’t trying but the fact is the more we try to move the more difficult it is to do so.

Oddly many will find using stairs not as difficult as walking on flat ground.

Sometimes if the sufferer is given a little push to try and get them moving, they will stumble then start to walk with small steps often becoming faster an unable to stop till they either fall or run into a wall or other obstruction. Trust me this is frightening and embarrassing and so hard for people to understand. It is called retropulsion or propulsion and in a crowded place can be dangerous.

If someone has this problem often, they should always at least have a walking stick with them which brings attention to the fact they have walking issues, making it less likely that other people will bump into them, as well as the fact having a stick will go a long way in preventing this symptom from raising its damn head.

Working Life in 1890's Australia

 

Throughout the 1890’s conferences had been held about the six colonies forming a federation, workers formed a large part of those who voted yes to the idea in the referendums held about it, the federation was formed on 1 January 1901.

Changes in Australian import and export affected waterside workers, as in they had more work.

As local manufacturing of clothing increased many women found work in factories.

The blacksmith was a familiar figure in city and towns when the horse was the main means of transport.

Women’s domestic work whether as a paid servant or a wife, mother or daughter was seen as a basic occupation. The telephonist back before it all went automatic was a new job mainly held by women.

Bread was known as the “staff of life” and during the 1890’s it was considered an important trade.

The increase in building work made trades such as carpentry and stonemasonry so important. Carpentry was used not only in the building of buildings but also in the creating of bridges, and fine furniture.

That is done with this series of post, there will be something different next Thursday.

Local Government

 

Like some other countries Australia has three levels of government, local, state, and federal, and we also have a Governor General. As I have wrote about all except local that is what todays post is about.

Local councils collect taxes in the form of rates from property owners, they also receive money from both state and federal governments. The money is spent on local matters such as: town planning, rubbish collection, water and sewage, dog registration and local roads.

In local council elections, voters elect representatives to councils across NSW. Each council is made up of between five and 15 councillors (one of whom is the mayor) they serve 4yrs.

By-elections are held periodically when a vacancy occurs in a civic office e.g. a councillor resigns or becomes a member of state or federal parliament.

A mayor’s salary varies from council to council, my local council is Lake Macquarie, and our mayor makes around $113,000, where as Newcastle’s mayor makes around $125.500. My daughter is under Cessnock council and their mayor makes about $61,280.

 

Creature Day----Potoo

 

Well, hello everyone time for another freaky creature, this week we have the Potoo. It is found in South American forest, if you saw it sitting on a branch its body will match the colour of the branch with its beak pointed skyward, you may not notice it.

It has huge staring eyes and eerie call “po-Too” “poo-Too”.

It will swoop from its perch when it sees food such as flying insects which it swallows whole.

It has a wingspan of 1 metre its eerie call when heard in the jungle at night can be either unsettling or out right scary. According to Brazilian legend, it’s a song from the dead, giving good luck to friends and bad luck to enemies.

Ocean Sea Creatures Facts

 

Good morning all here we are a6t another Monday, so it is fact day, this week we are looking at sea creatures.

The Earth’s oceans are home to an array of animals and plant life that live and feed at different levels of the water, these levels are called zones.

The sunlit zone to all ocean plants and many animals from corals and jellyfish to seals, sea turtles and sharks. Billions of microscopic plants called phytoplankton drift near the surface of the water, providing food for many creatures.

Only a little light makes it the twilight zone, so the animals at that level have adjusted to life in near darkness and very cold temperatures. These include crabs, squid, lobsters, and octopuses.

The sunless zone is extremely cold and the creatures that live there feed mainly on dead plankton which sinks to that level, which is extremely deep. It is difficult for humans to explore due to the water pressure being so high. It is home to lantern fish, cookiecutter sharks, and deep-sea jellyfish.

Then there is the abyssal zone, which is freezing cold and completely dark, the animals that live there can produce light from their bodies, to attract prey.

 

 

 

 

Week 15 of 2024

 

Daylight savings has finished for now, so it was 6am by the bedroom clock when I got up as Tim hadn’t changed it back, but he did do the loungeroom clocks. I am someone who likes to know the time and has 2 clocks in the loungeroom, 1 in the bedroom and the time showing on the microwave.

It was only 16 degrees when I got up. I also woke with pain in my jaw but after a couple of hours it settled down.

Tim is off to a mate’s memorial some fella from work.

By 10.30am it was 23 degrees and by midday it was 27 degrees. So, I turned the air con on.

Tim got home at 4.15pm, he said he had a good day.

Monday morning, the laptop tells me it is 25 degrees, but the phone says 17 degrees the phone is right, I can tell by the fact that I am on the cold side. I am glad I am not someone who has a problem adjusting to the start or end of daylight savings.

By 9am I had to change into shorts the temp was 21 degrees according to my phone.  Turned into another warm day with a temp of 25 degrees.

Sam was late again getting home from school, Tim thought he had missed him and since he had his physio at 2.30pm he came home but when his physio was finished at 3pm he went to check that Sam was home and no Sam wasn’t home, in fact Tim had been gone so long checking on Sam I was wondering what was going on and when I looked outside I saw both of them walking down the driveway.

Then Sam discovered he was locked out of the house, but thankfully Tasha arrived home shortly after and was able to let Sam in the house.

I was up at 4.50am needing to pee so naturally I stayed up; it is a cold 15 degrees this morning.

After Sam left Tasha turned up with a basket of her work clothes to toss in the dryer, she thought she was going to work tonight but there is a chance she may have a job in a couple of hours, and they won’t dry on the line in that amount of time.

The temp at 8.30am was 19 degrees.

Sue came over to do her washing, she also drove to Millers Bakery.

By 2.30pm it is 22 degrees, and I am starting to feel tired.

I slept through the night, Tim slept in his armchair and didn’t go to bed till I got up at 5am.

A cold and windy start to the day with the temp of 14 degrees.

Our new Foxtel box (pay tv) arrived yesterday afternoon, Tim and I will set it up sometime today.

Spoke to Kathy not much to say but I do like hearing from her even if it is only a 10-minute chat.

Tim & I set the new Foxtel box up, not hard to do when all you must do is disconnect the leads from one box and reconnect them to the other box.

The cleaners arrived again, and Tim spoke to them and showed them the video clip, the woman said there was a spider, but it didn’t wash with us. They were told their services were no longer needed.

Had a good night after a bad incident, I had got up for a small drink heard Sam in the bathroom we spoke for moment, and I went back to bed. Tim wasn’t here, he had gone out for a bit. Anyway, I had barely laid back down when I was overcome with fear, I had no idea what I was afraid of, but I started yelling and thrashing about. Sam heard me and came and helped me settle, he sat with me holding my hand till I started to drift off. I hope whatever that was it was a once of.

It was a lovely 12 degrees when I got up. By 11am it was a warm 22 degrees

Had a message from Jess saying Sam is sick so no school.

Had a visit from Sandy, she gave me a big hug, a little bit later Dawson came over to check on me.

Tim went to Centrelink in Wallsend and got the paperwork for me to apply for a disability Support Pension and for him to apply for a carer’s payment.

 

BEEN 3 YEARS SINCE MUM PASSED

Up at 4.50am to pee and of course I stayed up, a somewhat cold morning with a temp of 11 degrees, 6am it was 14 degrees.

Went to the doctors for scripts, then Tim and I went to a few other shops. I managed to buy a nice pair of long grey pants, just need Tim to cut them off.

 

Had a good chat with Sue and she had good cry, by the time got off the phone I was teary and had a cry.

Had a good night once I settled down, I mentioned to the doctor about the fear I felt the other night, which he called an anxiety attack, which I have not had a few years. Tim mentioned that some nights I’m up and down for a bit after going to bed, the doctor explained that is normal with Parkinson’s.

Sue came over to drop off a bottle of Vodka for Tim.

Dawson also came over for a visit, he had along talk with Tasha.

I stripped the bed and remade it on my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             

 

 

Parkinson's Disease Pt 12

Friday has arrived, so it is time for another post about Parkinson’s disease and this week we are looking at memory.

Now every man and his dog have memory problems which with age can get worse and having Parkinson’s and memory problems is just one more issue to deal with. Now I am not talking about having Parkinson’s dementia or Alzheimer’s but just normal memory issues which can be significant for someone with Parkinson’s.

It is seldom bad enough to cause a handicap, but we need to do the usual things when one has a bad memory such as writing things down, having a notepad handy is a must. I have one on my desk and one in my bedroom, as I often thing of things I want to do the following day just after going to bed and will get up and jot things down.

A usual and annoying symptom is when we are talking to someone and suddenly can’t remember what we were saying and just stop talking. If you are talking to someone with Parkinson’s and they suddenly stop talking don’t snap at them, just give them a few moments and usually it will come back to them, and they will continue the conversation.

Even though this thought block is annoying and frustrating, it is not considered a serious symptom from a medical point of view. As, it does not indicate any progressive mental deterioration or psychological abnormality.

Unfortunately, there is bugga all treatment for this and we just have to learn to deal with it.