You’re only as old as you feel – Anonymous

My oldest daughter turns 38 today.  How did that happen?  It seems that time is going by faster and faster.  I don’t feel that old, except for the days when I babysit my grandchildren and realize that I just can’t chase babies around all day anymore.  Ok, that’s not true.  There are a lot of days when I feel “older”, but in my head, I still think I am 35.

Sometimes I drag my husband to the neuro with me and after hearing my issues, his response is “that’s not Parkinson’s, that’s getting old!”  He has many of the same issues that I have, so how much of it is actually due to PD and how much is from aging?

So, here are a few comparisons:

Achy joints         Both

Digestive issues    Both

CRS disease (can’t remember S**T)  Both

Hearing Loss       Aging, exposure to too much loud rock music  in the 60’s.

Tremors         PD  (no he can’t claim that one)

Sleepless nights      PD   (I do my best thinking in the middle of the night)       He claims he can’t sleep either.  However, when I am up, he is usually snoring or maybe its the other way around.

Talking about our aches and pains with our friends    Both – have we become our grandparents?

Using a pill box to keep our meds straight because we can’t remember when or if we took them       PD,   CRS (see above)

Illegible handwriting        PD      I can still write with a calligraphy pen if I concentrate hard enough, but that gives me a headache.  Come to think of it, concentrating on anything too hard makes my brain hurt.

Thinking we can still play tennis, golf or any other sport as well as we did 10 years ago  Both

Allowing ourselves to acknowledge that we just can’t do that anymore –  Aging         Parkies somehow think that they are invincible and can still do everything when the OCD kicks in.

Chasing babies around the house all day wears us out      Aging – babies are for the young!

Maybe he is right.  So many complaints are just part of the aging process.  But blaming them on PD is so much easier to acknowledge than getting older.  Have a great Parkie Day!