Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Woodstock

Happy Birthday Woodstock...Wow!

No Pain, No Gain......

It's five am in Illinois and we have extreme weather conditions all around. Icing everywhere does not encourage me to get real excited about venturing outside to get some form of exercise...This is what I have been working on while not blogging daily. November nineteenth I had my right hip replaced and with that decided to just reinvent my whole life. I now exercise an hour or more daily. I have lost 34 pounds since August 1st and this is what I am trying. I joined the Y and go in and walk the gym in laps. One lap is one/sixteenth of a mile. As of yesterday, I am up to a half mile, 8 laps.....four without a walker and four with. I can now accomplish this in 24 minutes. Not lightening but gets the heart rate up and is building the strength in my legs AND MIND. I found out that after the surgery, my repaired leg wanted to go big time but my PD leg wanted now to freeze. My leg that was operated on is smaller than the PD one but seems to be much stronger. My main worry now is upper body strength....especially my left (PD) arm. The upper muscle in both arms has excruciating pain most of the time SO I do three sets of twelve, arm pulls to the front with a Pilate's stretch cord, three sets of twelve lying in bed and extending my arms straight over me and making large circles to small circles, leg lifts high to just off of the bed and then back up. I have never been an exerciser and this is not fun but I am starting to see the rewards and that is fun. Second is dry skin......My meds seem to drain every ounce of moisture out of my body so "Lubriderm Lotion" constantly and lots of liquid water or green tea. I force myself daily to do my hair and makeup....why, because, I have found if I don't force ALL of this I will not do it and I will die a slow death and not even know it. In with all this I am working on a 1000 piece puzzle of down town New York City(for the brain), read my Bible and several books loaned me by a special friend and take care of my 87 year old mom with Alzheimer's. None of this would be possible were it not for the total support of a long time love, who constantly tells me my worth to (if no one else) him. He sets my goals on very high shelves and encourages me to reach ever higher. What a difference he has made in my life at 63.The point behind all this is.....If I can do this, so can you. A chronic disease is a killer in so many ways. It not only kills your body but your brain while it runs all those around you away in fear. Those who are once friends, tend to pity you and you let them. This causes you to start a never ending road that takes you nowhere but to "Waste Land U.S.A." Please, no matter what chronic disease you are battling, do one thing for YOUR improvement today. Then tomorrow try two things. Life at this end of the scale maybe short but it need not be unproductive. Take five minutes and laugh, if at no one else, yourself and know I am thinking of each and everyone of you at this Christmas Season with love in my heart. Love Pokie

New Agenda

The PLM Unity Quilt came home today for the holidays and arrived just in time for my home nurse and PT lady to see it and and it looks like a new Symposium is wanted in the area. I had successfully pulled one off in May of 2009....my first with no experience, so this one should go smoother and PD has come so far visually since then, especially in our rural area in Illinois. That has always been my plan to get us out and let the world see just how productive we are. So often the plan for a PD patient is to put them in a nursing home and give up....No need.....we can and will survive if given just a little help.

These are the things on my new agenda:
Love, love and more love.
Symposium next summer for Fayette County
Team Patientslikeme is up and taking new members and donations for the 2011 Unity Walk
Finish all the stories behind the Unity Quilt and let people feel and love her.
Go to Washington, DC in February for PAN
Work with the city for a better Chronic Disease Support Group
Unity Walk in April and praying for 30,000.00 in Team donations, which would be double last year.
Make these diseases visible and get them cured or at least let us have a much better Quality of Life than what they are offering now.

Sounds like a lot of work but I do not take being given a new chance to walk lightly and will continue to fight with all I have...love Pokie