Saturday, February 21, 2009

To walk or not to walk

Parkinson's Disease has made me quite unsteady on my feet so that sometimes I'm doing good to stand up. Other times I can walk for half a mile holding my cane uselessly under my arm. People could easily think I'm a real phony.

Yesterday as I was walking back to my car from my film noir class, it felt like I didn't need a cane so I didn't use mine. Then today at Sam's Club I found that I couldn't control a shopping cart while holding a cup of soda. I ended up spilling my drink all over our groceiries. Fortunately most of them were plastic wrapped so all I lost was my drink.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder if the cup/glass holders that can fit onto wheelchairs could fit onto a shopping cart? I haven't used one of those gizmos, so don't know. I understand that trying to hold onto something in the air without moving it causes tremors, but you don't shake your arm/hand when it is being moved. Is this true? Marilyn

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  2. I don't have significant hand tremors yet so I can't answer your question. But that is my understanding from the literature.

    This particular incident was the result of my trouble walking. I lurched unexpectedly and couldn't control the cart, the cup, and the cane at the same time.

    A cup holder would have been the answer and I have seen them on shopping carts. Sam's Club doesn't have them yet.

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