#236 Parkinson's Hallucinations and Some New Photos

 

Our front yard frosted with hail.

#236 Perception and Pictures

Crocus in our front garden.

The pictures in this post were actually taken this past month by me. They are real photographs taken on Lumix ZS100 or Nikon Z50ii cameras. It’s the first time in quite a while that I’ve felt good enough to get out and shoot some new photos, even if they are just ordinary—most were taken at the Canby Community Pond which is always full of friendly fowl and rodents.

Hallucinations and Delusions

John, Anne’s cousin, responded to the last blog post [Thank you, John!] with a story about his cat called Ghost. Ghost was a found gray cat like my George and got his name from his ability to seemingly disappear on walks and reappear later in the walk. John’s story made me consider telling about the fact that George The Cat seems to be haunting me even now. Every so often when I’m in bed the covers (usually just a sheet) will fall in on me like it would when George would curl up on the bed at night. I know there’s no cat that just got on the bed, but it’s hard to ignore the motion of the covers is like George is right there. Either the ghost of George has just crawled onto bed to settle in for the night or it’s a Parkinson’s disease hallucination.

A bullhead or common goldeneye?

A pair of ???

A newly rebuilt garden path.

That brings me to this post’s information about living with PD. As many as 50% of Parkinson’s sufferers over the course of their time with the disease will be affected by hallucinations and/or delusions. These affects will be in the form of seeing things that aren’t really there (people living or deceased, animals living or deceased, objects), hearing sounds that aren’t real (extraneous sounds, music, voices), other sensory manifestations, paranoia (believing people are watching you or talking about you), and false beliefs (fears of loved ones stealing from you, putting you in harm’s way, or being unfaithful). The causes of these hallucinations and delusions are varied, but most can be attributed to the natural progression of the disease (changes in the brain) or the side effects of dopamine therapy where the increase of dopamine in the brain may cause the effects. If natural progression is the suspected cause then certain drugs may give help. If drugs are the cause then a change of dosage as well as a change of treatment drugs may be the solution.

Alas poor Yorick...

With Parkinson’s related hallucinations visual images are the most common type. The hallucinations may be minor called passage images (like shadows) or major called presence. Most of PD patients who experience hallucinations say that while startling at first, they actually get fairly used to them. Most patients know the hallucinations aren’t real, but still find them unsettling. One of the members of my support group said that her hallucination came in the form of a cat—she knew it wasn’t real because it was polka dotted and wearing a yellow bow tie. If I have to include hallucinations in my PD symptoms I hope that they aren’t the paranoid delusional type, but rather the mild kind, like George’s ghost. Although, I don’t think I would mind meeting the polka dot cat as long as he was still wearing the yellow bow tie.  

Wood Duck

Wood duck circles and reflections.

He'll see what he can do.

Next: I like the idea of new photos. I'll see what I can do.

Spring Sunset in Canby

#235 PD, Story, Memorial, Photos

The Photos in this post are mostly just decoration—old photos found, new experiments, and eye candy. Please enjoy and comment.

The Continuing Saga of Bob’s Parkinson’s

I always tried to teach that to truly analyze an issue meant you had to examine all sides of the issue. Thus, my analysis of the good and the bad of Parkinson’s Disease. First, what causes PD? Fifteen percent of PD can be attributed to genetics—PD running in a family. That’s the bad news; you can’t do anything about it. But that means 85% of PD comes from environmental causes such as exposure to chemical factors (RoundUp, chemicals used on golf courses, etc.). And that is certainly good news because that means 85% of PD could be  preventable.

Next, PD is an eclectic disease where each individual’s symptoms or combination of symptoms and progression of the disease is different for each individual. That fact makes treatment much more difficult and stressful—it’s hard to prepare for what comes next in the disease when it could be any number of things. It takes a team effort to fight PD. The good news is you can find some really good people to put on your team. I’m lucky to have Anne as a care-giver and I worry about working her too hard. But I have also met two efficient neurologists and a great family practitioner, as well as several therapists (physical trainer, movement therapist, voice and swallowing therapist). I attend a group meeting of others fighting the condition and we all work at helping each other. I’ve met some wonderful people because of PD, and that’s a great thing.

Finally, there are good medicines and treatments for many of the symptoms of PD. It’s certainly good news when I find the right dosage of Carbidopa/Levodopa (Sinemet) that controls most of my tremors. The bad news comes when the disease progresses beyond what the meds can control or when the meds themselves cause problems. Constipation is one of the symptoms of PD and Sinemet often causes more constipation. 

Parkinson’s Disease is an ugly problem for all of us, patient and caregiver, and the good side of it becomes more and more a comparative good. But with the support of my team I’ll lumber on from one symptom to the next. Is it a good thing to look forward to the next new challenge or a bad thing? 

Amorak (son) and Myko (father) crashed out after pulling a four-wheeled cart 72 miles through beach and sand dunes in two days with rest of a 7-dog team. Good dogs!

Anne and the team with little snow at Beaver Marsh and Mt Thielson in the background.

Anne driving a five dog team at a Dune Musher's beach race in the '70s.

The Tournament of the Bad Tooth

The fall 1964 University of Washington collegiate speech tournament was an unusual one for me. I was entered in three individual speaking events and debate, but that wasn’t what was unusual. It was the second day of the three day competition that I woke up with a swollen cheek and an extremely aching tooth. All Dr. Mahaffey or Craig Singletary, our speech coaches at Linfield College, could do was give aspirin and tell me to make my way over to the U of W School of Dentistry during the day to see if they could help.[Side note about our team: Linfield’s speech team had a small budget, so to extend our monies Hap had us stay in a downtown Seattle 4th Street hotel where the lower floors were rented out on an hourly basis while our cheap rooms were on upper floors. It was a good educational opportunity for small town debaters and we never had any problems. Back to my story.] With my full competitive schedule I could find only a little time during my lunch break—I had no interest in food anyway—to seek professional help. With my slurred speech, puffy cheek, and sore tooth they set me up to see one of the dental professors during a class session. He put me in a chair, took a look at my tooth, and called another professor over to take a look. Soon all the students were coming over and after seeing the tooth, muttered to each other about it. 

It seems that several years before, when I had had work done on the tooth by Dr. Toothacher in Los Angeles (and yes, that was his real name) he had done some unusual damage to the tooth which had now split right down the middle. The doctors said the tooth had to come out, but they couldn’t do it. They said I would have to take that up with my dentist in Salem when I got home. They did though pack the tooth and give me something stronger than aspirin for the pain.

So drugged up with more slurred speech I took my packed tooth back to finish the tournament. And finish the tournament I did. Mike and I placed 2nd in debate and I finaled and took a trophy in each of the three individual events in which I participated. Even drugged—swollen—and slurring it was one of the best performances of my college speech career. I wonder if I could have done any better if I’d been healthy. 

Osprey bringing home the fish dinner to the nest near Mt Angel.

George the Cat -- (?)1997 - March 20, 2013  (I know I've posted this before, but of all the animals we've shared our lives with he was our last and the one we can't forget.)

George, named by the neighbors, was a stray abandoned by the people who lived behind the neighbors across the street from us. The neighbors neutered George and fed him, but he was just one of several outside cats the neighbors fed. I started hand

feeding George Tender Vittles in the mornings before I went to work. He soon discovered that he liked coming into the house in the evenings, even if he had to share it with Muffy, Queen of the House. Muffy took all the best sleeping spots, but George decided that even the second best spots were better than living on the street. After talking with the neighbors and taking George to the vet for his jabs, he became our cat although weighing between twelve and fifteen pounds he freely claimed the neighborhood as his. 

George was a lovey cat with us, but fairly shy among other people. He tolerated us having groups over, but relished group dinners when he’d get his own chair at the table--he was content to sit at the table and watch us eat, knowing he’d eventually get some scraps when everyone was done. Almost any meat would attract his interest and ice cream was of course his favorite dessert.

In the twelve plus years we had George he got used to having sitters when we were away, first to debate camps and then to UK adventures. For a while we used live-in house/cat sitters, then we had neighbors who would watch over things while we were gone--letting George in and out on a regular basis. He didn’t like our traveling and started sulking as soon as saw the suitcases come up from the basement. He never knew whether the trip was to be for a weekend, a week, or six weeks--after all, as smart as he was he never learned to read the calendar or the itinerary we always left on the table. He was almost always happy to see us return. In fact, one time we had left our car at the airport for a friend who was coming back from a trip a couple of days after we left. When Scott pulled into our carport with our car George came anxiously running until he saw it wasn’t us. Scott said he looked so dejected when he left in his own car. George would punish us, though, for leaving him (even if he had been well cared for) by demanding to be let in and out at his whim for several days. Out of guilt (and fear, for George had claws which he kept very sharp) we always gave in to his demands. This was the pattern for years, until this last short trip to Eastern Oregon. When we got home George greeted us, wanted pets and a little lap time, but was far more interested in curling up in the bed we had for him in front of the heat vent. This now was the pattern for several days--George became harder and harder to wake up. He’d get up to eat his breakfast and dinner and wait beside us for our scraps, but then it was back to sleep in front of the heater without much lap time. In few days it was just sleep. I had a chat with George’s vet, made an appointment, and took him in for his final visit.

We hope George, good friend that he was, is now enjoying his long, permanent nap.

NEXT: Maybe some new photos...or maybe some old stories...or both.

 

A Travel Blog about No Travel

Anne and I had a trip planned to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas for the middle of March—it was one of the trips we postponed because Anne couldn’t fly for a while after her ear surgery (which went fine). The Canyon would be cold, but we’d get some golf in Vegas. Then, along comes the coronavirus COVID-19. And if what’s happening worldwide isn’t enough for concern, the cases in Kirkland, WA, and in Lake Oswego, OR, brought the disease much closer to home. At first we weren’t panicked, and we still aren’t, but being in the group that gets hit the hardest by this virus—over 70 with underlying health conditions—made us take a longer look at our two planned spring trips: Grand Canyon/Vegas in March and Scotland in late April and May. There’s nothing saying we have to cancel or change either trip, but we are firm in our resolve not to jeopardize the Scotland trip. Our final decision came down to how safe is was or wasn’t to be in Vegas with millions of other tourists from all over the world carrying who knows what bugs with them. 

We got all reservations for the Las Vegas trip cancelled without losing anything except what we paid for upgrade economy on Southwest Airlines. We know others who are wrestling with the same kinds of dilemmas. Deciding to cut our last fall southwest trip short because I was so sick was a no brainer. This current decision, though, was much more difficult. Were we giving in to media hysterics or would the planned trip be overly risking. From my position on the sled behind my sled dog team, I had great hindsight, but I doubt I’ll ever really know if we are making the correct choice of travel plans to not travel to Vegas.

With no trip to Grand Canyon, Red Rocks, Valley of Fire, and Vegas, that leaves me searching for a new post for the blog. I think I found one that has several benefits for me and will I hope be interesting to you. As a part of my photography workflow I store what I consider to be my best or most useful photos in categorized albums (castles, churches, landscapes, seascapes, street photos, etc.). This post will include two photos with comments not previously used for the blog from twelve different categories. For me this exercise first, gets me back in touch with some neglected photo gems. Second, it shows me how much improvement I’ve made from earlier photos. Third, it tells me how much improvement (a lot) I still need to be making in my images. And lastly, it is great fun looking back at photos from trips ten or more years ago. I hope you get some fun out of seeing these previously unseen images. Nothing here will be very significant, but I had fun putting it together—and after cancelling travel plans and worrying about health issues, fun is what I needed.

 Castles - lived in or ruins

Aughuanure Castle in Oughterard, Co. Galway, Ireland. The castle was owned by the  Chieftan of the O'Flahertys, but the guide, an O'Toole, kept referring to the castle as his castle.

Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands is the summer residence of the royal family. The castle  was a very special place for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It can be toured in the spring, when the Queen isn't in residence.

Domestic Animals

I have no idea why this Scottish sheep is this color, but there was a whole flock of them. I wouldn't mind a sweater of that color though.

This ewe and lamb look lost, but then we saw them when we were lost in the fog in Dartmoor National Park.

Signs

Poor advertising in the Scottish highlands. The next year this sign was replaced with one which read,  "Dull, Twinned with Boring, Oregon."

We're trying to live by this.

Buildings

The Bothy on our club, St Fillans Golf Course, voted the Best 9-Hole Course in Scotland 2019. A bothy is a basic shelter usually used by farmers and shepherds. In Scotland many bothies also served for making illicit whisky.

The village of Culross in central Scotland is a National Trust of Scotland village maintained as it was in the 1700s.

Bugs, Insects, Small Critters

I saw this vicious looking thing on my fence one day. I have no idea what it is, but I'm glad I had long range macro lens.

This mantis crawled or hopped up on my golf club bag one day at our course. He stayed with me for about two holes and then tired of my poor swing.

Arches National Park

At Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, are many interesting rock formations. I don't know if this one has a name, but "Balance Rock" sounds good.

This formation is called Courthouse Rock and it's particularly nice at sunset.

Lighthouses

Trwyn Du lighthouse or Penmon lighthouse is on black Point peninsula on Anglesey, Wales. At low tide you can often walk out to the lighthouse, but it's a tough walk over or through tidepools.

Anne got a picture of me putting on a hole at New Moray GC and Moray Firth in Scotland. It's one of our favorite places to play golf. I probably missed the putt.

Dogs, Cats

We had sled dogs (Siberian Huskies) for 15 years and raced them for about twelve. Gromyko of Kolema Creek (Myko) was our second dog and my favorite--always a hard worker, a lover, and a great backpacking companion.

Queenie was queen of the B&B we lived in Scotland until it was sold. She was known for wrapping up in our blankets, crawling into our suitcases, and her lady-like manners.

Churches, Cathedrals, Religious Sites

Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nois in Irish) is an ancient religious complex in Co. Offaly, Ireland on the Shannon River. The complex's stone structures are as old as the 9th century. Clonmacnoise is known for it Irish High Crosses and round towers.

I love this view of the cloisters at Fountains Abbey three miles from Ripon in North Yorkshire. Founded in 1132 this Cistercian abbey was used until dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539.

Meals, Food

On Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the 9/11 attacks, we visited the Myrtle Inn in Callander, Scotland, for a bite of lunch. There we met this nice lady having her one meal a day out. She was extremely concerned for us and kept asking if there was anything she could do for us. Little did she realize that her concern was one of the best things anyone could have done.

On the way to golf in Blairgowrie, Scotland, we stopped at a Scottish version of a drive-thru for a cup of coffee. We'd seen it at this farm before, but the next time we came by it was gone.

Shops, Shopping

This fishmonger set up at Nairn Harbour had some interesting items for sale. The real hit for dinner was brown crap claws with pasta. I guess the closest we have now to this kind of shopping is Swan's home delivery.

Here I am wishing and dreaming outside a watch shop in the Shambles area of York. Just think about having to change all those watches on Daylight Savings Day.

Street Photos

Street photos are grab shots which daily life in towns or villages. Here I had Anne pretend to focus on me, when I really wanted a shot of this interesting couple outside a tearoom in St Ives, southern England.

I thought I'd stick with the coffee shop/tearoom theme and show another grab of a couple in an English coffee shop. It seemed like an interesting first date where I got the feeling there wouldn't be a second.

CRASS COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: My third update of Golf in Scotland: The Hidden Gems has just been finished and is on sale on Amazon. I would show you a picture of the cover, but I haven't even received my copies yet. 

NEXT: We are taking a short hop to the coast for a couple of days and flowers should be nice soon, so maybe I'll have someone interesting for next time.