So, on Friday last week I met with my community Speech Language Therapist. She works from the same hospital that I do, so I have seen her often around the hospital. We have also previously had some sessions in the rental property we lived in before we bought our new home.
We had a bit of a discussion regarding my swallow and speech and she has given me some tips to manage both. She also gave me some physical exercises to strengthen my neck muscles and to aid with my swallow. Additionally, she has given me some vocal exercises to do 1-2x daily. There is a list of short sentences to practice saying out loud. Plus, there is an exercise where I have to say ‘aahhh’ as loud and as long as I can. Thank goodness I have my study to hide away in, so that I don’t frighten my husband with my rather loud practice! I also have to read something aloud in a loud voice for five minutes. It is supposed ideally, to be something that has some meaning for me. So, I read some of my Blogs aloud!
Next, today I went to see my Physiotherapist that I worked with for my sore shoulder, pre and post surgery. She has also been helping me with a pain issue which I feel in my left buttock area and shooting pains down my hip.
So after getting me to do a few things, she has – you guessed it – given me some exercises to do! She wants me to do them ideally three times a day. So, there we have it. My list now looks something like this.
- Morning exercises each morning – except I give myself some time off weekends.
- Gym sessions 2-3 times a week.
- Aquarobics once a week.
- Physiotherapy exercises ideally 3 times daily. I can see me only fitting in two at a push!
- Vocal Exercises and Physical Exercises for my swallow and voice. Ideally 3 times daily. A big ask – it might be 2 times daily at best.
- Ride my bike – once a week if I can.
- Go for walks with my husband – when I can.
- Go out and do things with my grand-daughters.
So, heaven help me if I need to do anything else, is all I can say! This is quite a list and a commitment, so I better not have any other conditions come up that require me to do exercises. I simply haven’t got the time or energy to do any more! This little lot is more than enough.
Exercise is medicine. But sometimes it feels like I should get someone to amend the prescription so I am not getting too big a dose!
My journey with Parkinsons 