Taking Parkies on holiday…

It seems like a long time ago we started planning a trip to the UK to see family and friends. On 3 May 2023, after a few days in Singapore, we landed in England for a nine week holiday. This is the first time we have been to the UK since my diagnosis. Not only do I have a new diagnosis since the last time we were here, but I have also had my knee injury to contend with.

On 28 April, I went to see my Orthopaedic Surgeon for an injection in my right knee, which has been giving me pain for months. He agreed to do so, but after our conversation about how my knee has been doing – badly, I might add – it looks not unlikely that I will end up having to have surgery at some stage.

As an aside… I am typing this Blog on my Sister-in-law’s computer. It has an English keyboard and some things are in different places. As someone who usually touch types, this is messing with my head! I keep hitting the wrong keys for some of the words I type with my right hand in particular and it is very trying!!!

So, we travelled for 10 hours to get to Singapore and I took my medications according to the meals we had on the plane and then took them morning, noon and night while in Singapore. Then came the 12 hours or so to the UK. Now in England, I am taking them morning, noon and night UK time. Luckily, the change in time zone doesn’t seem to have had an adverse effect on my body and it’s reaction to the medications. All, in all, I seem to be coping quite well (despite this keyboard… aaargh).

I have noticed that my knee has not reacted as instantly to the injection as last time and I still have pain. Perhaps because it has worsened over the past few months, maybe the injection will not be as effective? Anyway, I have decided that if I cannot be pain free, that I may as well tough it out and continue to go for walks with my husband despite the pain and just rely on pain killers and rest afterwards to get through. We went for a walk for a couple of hours today, which is the longest I have walked in a while and I admit I was very tired by the time we stopped for lunch. Perhaps, though it is best to keep pushing myself and maybe my knee will respond by strengthening? As I said to my husband, ‘if just walking around causes me pain, then I may as well take a nice walk in the country and have pain, rather than walk around in the house bored and have pain!’

The ironic thing is, my Parkinson’s itself does not seem to be an issue, the main issue being caused by my knee injury. I will admit to being rather tired during the walk and afterwards, but that may be a combination of many factors. My arthritis, which I’m told can cause tiredness, my lack of real exercise in recent times and of course my knee injury. Chuck in a bit of Parkies and I guess it’s not surprising things are a bit more of a challenge.

But, we are here to enjoy ourselves and will not let a little pain (well, sometimes quite a bit) stop us from doing so.

After all, that’s what painkillers are for!