My Diagnosis

I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Apparently there is not a method of diagnosis except for doctor's opinion after examining a patient. The neurologist asked me to follow his finger with my eyes as he moved it in front of my face. My opinion is that I was able to follow his movements. He asked me to walk down a hallway outside his office. I felt like I walked poorly, but I was pleased the I could walk at all. I was in his office because my doctor believed that I had had a stroke a few days before. I had gone to the emergency room and had wound up in a Wichita hospital. At the hospital I had MRI scans of my brain and had been attached with heart sensors for a couple of days. The doctor in Meade and another person had commented that I looked like I had Parkinson's. The neurologist said I looked like I was wearing a mask because my face showed no emotion.

He was not displeased with the way I walked, except that my left arm did not swing. My wife had commented on my left arm no swinging as we has walked around our neighborhood a few weeks before. The thing that impressed me was that he asked me if I could tap my toes. I said, "Sure." I started to raise and lower the toes off my right foot. The toes moved easily. He said, "Try the left now."Although my I tried to move the left foot. It remained in place. I could not move it. I have heard people say that having Parkinson's is sometimes like having one or both feet glued to the floor.

I am not sure when the left toe began to move when I wanted it to move. It was after I began the medication. I read somewhere a few days ago that I should move my toes every time I plan to move my feet. The comment was followed by a quotation that referred to moving water not freezing. A terrifying outcome is that sometimes Parkinson's patients' bodies freeze like like the characters in Robins William's "Awakening."

Recently the physical therapist wanted me to stand on one foot. I could not raise my right foot. I was attempting to pick it up, but I sensed that I could not balance on my left foot. It may have been a defense mechanism, but I could not lift the right foot from the floor. After the therapist allowed me to hold on to a bar as I attempted to stand on one leg, I began to be able to lift one leg at a time. I have difficulty standing on one leg to put on my pants. In fact, I fell last winter as I was dressing for school. I started sitting on the bed as I put my pants on. I remember thinking what a bitch it is to be getting old.