Annual Parkinson's Symposium

The Symposium was at the UCSD auditorium, a new facility and I believe this was the first function at the facility  since completion. It is a beautiful facility, these pictures don't do it justice. The Symposium is an annual event , a day long event with Doctors , researchers and Leaders in the Parkinson community. It was fantastic, with info on the latest and greatest in developments in research and medical techniques.

Paula into the meat of the matter.

Refreshments and coffee were outside, and it was a little chilly so coffee and tea were a popular item.

Our fearless leaders at work in one of the breakout sessions, Pat and Thelma.

Paula and Annadora still smiling at the end of the day. Annadora made the trek with us , and it was a joy having her share the day with us .

Halloween

Mommie and Jack picking out jack-o-lantern templates.

Jack and Mommie did it. Halloween 2011 is officially kicked off.

Tutu and Lauren just kickin it behind the wall of balloons Mommie and grandpa Nick created for the trick or treaters. 

Ready for trick or treaters.

Anticipation.

Mommie and the little flower she created....literally. 

Batman and Robin bustin through walls of spiderwebs to save the day.

Batman rocks anticipating the sunset!

Lauren in her usual calm and collective attitude, oh cool ...halloween!

A sidekick is always a good follower and watching your back , which is exactly what  Robin  is about to do.

First we must make a plan, strategize and rally the troops.

Cool pumpkins abound!!!

Lilly had a really cool costume, an exotic parrot. 

I believe this was the first and last house that they walked to and from , then it was off to the races.

Lauren's First Birthday

Party in the bithday suit.

No No No I'm not ready for a bath!

Turn out the lights the Party's over, mommie wins!!!!

When the cake is gone the fun is just starting.

Jack got to sneak out and go to the movies to see Puss and Boots, while Lauren was napping.Grandpa Nick and TuTu enjoyed the movie as much as Jack enjoyed the popcorn.

Photo op after the movie, then off to Toy's R Us for some Ben Ten  stuff.

Make a snow ball out of the cake?????

No thanks I had some , I ate mine with a fork.

Peek a boo!

Harbor Days

Ready to roll! We have had a great a month with the "Parkinsons Monster"  (fitting for Halloween) after adding some more vitamins and supplements about a month ago, Brain Specific and Nerve specific we are experiencing some more positive results. Paula was having such good results, after about a week we forgot to take her meds  one morning and realized it was afternoon. So the next day we delayed until she felt she needed them, and the delay period became longer and longer until we eliminated one of her pills which amounted to about 1/3 of her meds. So without further detail, less meds = less side affects. More vitamins = healthier brain. End result is Paula is almost a whole person again. Conversation is close to  normal again ( no delayed response and confusion)  and memory is much improved , she walks by herself, gets in and out of the car by herself,  puts her seat belt on by herself, she has even made dinner by herself and  cleaned the kitchen by herself. Her back pain and leg pain is not gone but it is  much less and this results in a better attitude and alot more smiles. Another very notable item is her sleeping is much better, she used to snor  and every breath seemed labored, but now her mouth is closed and her breaths are quiet. This actually scared me the first time I noticed, but its this way every night now. And naps are almost non existent, she will go lay down and 10 minutes later she is back up and around, her naps used to be at least 2 hours a day.
So the  picture above represents, us in the harbor for our second cardio workout, we plan to go there three times a week and walk at a fast  pace  (which at this point is a normal walk for me) in order to increase the heart rate and blood flow through the brain, increased blood flow through the brain is also, as the research points out, the best thing you can do for the disease to keep it from progressing. We are walking  almost a mile and getting her heart rate up to around 92 which is about 30 beats per minute above her normal. We also attend three exercise classes a week ,where exercises are done mostly seated in a chair, and are mostly mobility improvement and stretching exercises, but they have also been very helpful. Paula is also considering  an aquatic exercise class. So that is our update from our little corner of the world. Notice, Alex is ready to go, he does pretty good, but doesn't quite make it for the whole walk, he starts out in front and slowly ends up behind so I pick him up for about the last 100 yards.The best to you all !!!

Whew!!!

So , after a hectic couple of weeks a little shopping puts a smile on her face. Then its off to the Physical Therapist.

Ok, a good time to pop a cork on the Lombardelli vino and count our blessings.

Attending the NCPSG monthly Mimi's luncheon today, and Nick put it on the callendar a half hour early so we had some time to kill in the waiting area. She's pointing at the first  arrivals,we had about 20 attendees this month, had to add an extra table.

Well it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but we are still standing. So it all started with the great south western states " power kerplunk." We were at Happiness Nails getting Paula's scratchers tamed when the power went down, luckily we we're finished and headed out the door. After navigating multiple stop lights, and multiple drivers that were obviously attending their first rodeo, we arrived  home and settled in with lots of candles in place and feeling content and with enough supplies to last us at least two weeks. We then realized after listening to the radio on our cell phones that this could last 3 days, we were almost out of gas in the truck and if we had to go to the desert to rescue  Gran TuTu from the heat, we might have a problem. After multiple attempts to call her we finally got through , just to find out that she was unaware of the power situation. She was in the hospital and had been there for a few hours, her heart rate had skyrocketed to as high as 189 per minute at one point. The power came on the next morning at 9am and we were soon after on the road. It took her a couple days to recoup and convince them she would be better off at home at her bar with her company, which she achieved.They have some amazing medications these days. We had a nice couple of days watching golf and football and relaxing. Thanks to Maria we were able to head home.
    Back to Paula's exercise routine three times a week, but as we were on the way to Tri-City hospital exercise class we were rear ended about a block away, so we made it to the hospital on time, but Paula went in an ambulance. Mostly a precaution, no broken bones or bleeding , but a serious blow to the head rest warranted some ex rays and a cat scan  and tests to make sure she was ok.  Then another trip to the desert to spend the weekend with Gran TuTu ,watched some golf and football and had coffee and drinks at the bar. The weather was very nice and she is getting along as good as can be expected, meds are working just fine, she checks her blood pressure and heart rate three times a day just to keep an eye on the vitals.
   So , this week has been rather boring , just Physical therapy, doctor visits , exercise classes, time to catch up on blogs and generally good times. Sorry for the lack of pictures, people get upset when you take pictures of them on gurneys. Altho I wish I would have taken a picture of the  car that hit us , two girls gabbing and never even hit the brakes, their little honda was crushed about half way to the windshield. Oh yeah, the car in front of us was an off duty cop, of course we crunched him.

Exercise a Movie and the Street Fair.

Looking at the lovelys.

We had a day of freedom from the back and leg pain, so we were lucky enough to make a full day of it. We went to exercise class at the Elks Club and as soon as it was over, Paula smiled and said, I wana go to the movie. Of course I responded with an "Are You Sure Look" She said I have no pain at all and I want to play. We went home purchased tickets online and made the 3:40 showing of " The Help "  a referral from Paula's friend from 3rd grade Mardy. What a great movie, probably an academy award winner for sure. We stepped out of the show on to the street and the Street Fair was in full force. We walked across the street and joined in , listening to some musicians playing a guitar and flute. Then worked our way along the multitude of booths with anything you can think of and food from any walk of life,including many local restaurants which surprised us. Of course musicians strategically place throughout. You sort of get the feeling your in a third world market place.

So the Street Fair is called Sunset Market.

Oh, and there is no lack of people , hence "the sport of people watching".

Of course we have to pass by the Surf Museum.

It seems to be popular to bring your puppy. 

Wine trinkets, and the such.

Some got prime people watching seats.

Another happy puppy.

Now this is very tempting , Paula made the comment "We have to come back soon to get the chicken on the stick. We couldn't endulge because we stuffed ourselves on the excellent popcorn and coke in the movies.

Balloon man, not pictured is the line of kids.

The kiddie slide.

Well we almost made it, the evil pain monster returned after about an hour of  walking and gaulking . We turned the corner and headed to the car.

A quick close up, of my wify.

As we turned the corner , more musicians , this time with a motive , lure customers to the  Salon.

We almost got ran over by a bicyclist named Lee Covil, one of our business neighbors  from the Business Park.  An excellent Artisan Cabinet maker also. I met Lee on a job I contracted in 1998 down in Old Del Mar.

As we turned the corner for one little cruise along the beach  we were greeted with this beautiful sunset at the Pier. Now then , maybe that's why they named it Sunset Market.

It was a very good day.