I have come a long way from those early days of my diagnosis. Even further from the time when it was possible that I was mistaken in thinking I might have Parkinson’s. In doing so, I had forgotten one of the things that happened that made me think I had this condition.
Tonight, it was a cold night. I had taken all my medications for the day and as usual no tremors were present and they were doing their job. Then as I sat there and the evening got colder, my left hand started to twitch and then launched into a full-blown tremor. I sat there for awhile quite shocked that this tremor had managed to sneak it’s way through the medication and make itself known. I even posted on a Facebook group that I am a member of saying, ‘Does anyone get tremors when it is cold?’ I received a ‘Yes’ from several people.
My husband came home from work and I told him what had happened. By that time the heat pump was on and I had put on some warmer clothes and the tremor had gradually subsided. His response? ‘Remember, that was one of the first things you noticed when we took the kids to Hanmer and you started with your whole left arm shaking?’
Then I remembered. Maybe I always had remembered. Maybe I didn’t want to remember a time when the tremors weren’t under control.
It is easy sometimes to just get on with life and put this thing I call Parkies to the very back of my mind. Perhaps it’s a defense mechanism. Like laughter… laughter is often a defense mechanism for me. Making jokes. Making light of things when I am actually really stressed.
I’m OK, but it was like Parkies decided to give me a reminder. Remember me? I’m still here….
I’ll just have to remember to keep the cold at bay and not give Parkies the chance to sneak through the medications again!
My journey with Parkinsons 