We are soon to hit December and with it the month seems to rocket past at speed. Every year the days and months seem to go by so fast and before you know it, another year has ended.
This has been a challenging year for me with my health. Fortunately, Parkies has been well-behaved and not causing any real issues. I have noticed my memory is a bit worse and I have trouble finding words at times, words that I think I shouldn’t be struggling with. The changes though have been subtle differences that anyone else may not notice. None have caused any real concern for me. I have noticed when I was bowling the other day that my left hand starved to quiver a bit. If I closed my hand in a fist it seemed to stop it.
This year began with health issues early in the piece, with an operation on 3/2 on my back. I had developed excruciating pain in my legs – no pain in my back – and after months of agony it was revealed that the nerves in my back were being squeezed and causing the pain. It seemed strange at the time that although my back was the cause of my pain, no back pain at all was present. All the pain was in my legs. However, after my operation, I had back pain, but the severe leg pain stopped.
Since my operation, I have been slowly improving. I still have back pain, but it is usually intermittent and not often as bad as it was earlier in my recovery. I can now walk without any aids, although not for the long distances my husband likes to walk. I’m hoping that I can improve my walking in time and hope to be able to keep up on some walks when we go to the UK next year.
So, December is nearly here and thoughts obviously turn to Christmas. For the first time ever, we will not be spending time with any of my children or our grandchildren. We have all agreed to do our own thing on the day, but no doubt we will talk at some time. This works out for all of us, not having to prepare masses of food or go anywhere if we don’t want to. Just an easy Christmas. I have gift baskets at the ready for the granddaughters and will organise our grandsons’ presents soon. I have bought a small Christmas Ham and it will be lovely to have in croissants and slabs of ham on the barbecue. We are going to a hotel for Christmas dinner, so no real Christmas cooking for me this year. But, I did make a Christmas pudding, which is in the freezer and some Christmas mince to make some tarts.
Looking forward to a relatively stress-free Christmas, but not banking on a completely stress-free one, because there’s always a little something in the way of stress at Christmas!
I acknowledge that not everyone has something to look forward to at Christmas. That this Parkinson’s life is not an easy one and we all face challenges along the way. My hope is that whatever stage you are at, that you have the support you need and may precious memories to sustain you at this time.
My journey with Parkinsons 