IS IT COFFEE OR TEA?
Some of you out there knew my first husband, Jim Miner (1936 – 1981), and his best friend, Jim Chapman. They were both math teachers at Victor Valley College. Jim Miner would often bring Jim Chapman home for coffee or lunch for math speak, gossip, or just camaraderie. Miner was a coffee drinker and Chapman preferred tea.
One morning they dropped in for one of those chats. Chapman sat down at the kitchen booth. Miner made tea for them both, using my method of putting the tea bags in the glass pot and running the hot water through the Mr. Coffee machine, rather than boiling it on the stove.
Chapman took one sip of tea and called it coffee. Miner insisted it was tea. I came on the scene and inspected the Mr. Coffee machine.
“You are both right,” I declared. “It’s both coffee and tea.”
How could that be? On inspection, I saw that Miner had not taken the used coffee filter, full of wet coffee grounds, out of the basket before pouring the hot water through. Was a new drink born? Maybe not.
What else might be confused for something it is not?
Essential tremor comes to mind. It can look like Parkinson’s disease to the unfamiliar. Essential tremor, reminiscent of the great actress, Katherine Hepburn, is a nervous system disorder (neurological disorder) that causes a rhythmic shaking. Essential tremor can affect almost any part of your body. Essential tremor signs and symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic:
• Begin gradually
• Worsen with movement
• Usually occur in the hands first, affecting one hand or both hands
• Can include a “yes-yes” or “no-no” motion of the head
• May be aggravated by emotional stress, fatigue, caffeine or extremes of temperature.
Many people associate tremors with Parkinson’s disease, but the two conditions differ in key ways:
• Timing of tremors. Essential tremor of the hands usually occurs when you use your hands. Tremors from Parkinson’s disease are most prominent when your hands are at your sides or resting in your lap.
• Associated conditions. Essential tremor doesn’t cause other health problems, but Parkinson’s disease is associated with a stooped posture, slow movement and a shuffling gait. However, people with essential tremor may sometimes develop other neurological signs and symptoms, such as an unsteady gait (ataxia).
Parts of body affected.
• Essential tremor mainly involves your hands, head and voice.
• Parkinson’s disease tremors usually start in your hands, and may affect your legs, chin and other parts of your body.
How about Alzheimer’s symptoms and Lewy Body dementia?
• Lewy body dementia, (LBD) the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, causes a progressive decline in mental abilities. Dementia has many possible causes, including stroke, tumor, depression, and vitamin deficiency, as well as disorders such LBD, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.
Early LBD symptoms are often confused with similar symptoms found in brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. In addition, LBD can occur alone or along with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
Over time, people with dementia with Lewy bodies or Parkinson’s disease dementia may develop similar symptoms.
Some refreshing news is that I am cooperating with Ron Cooper, of Parkinson Moves, in writing a grant to serve people affected by Parkinson’s who live in underserved areas. Ron, a PD patient himself, is an Assistant Director of The Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN), and Assistant Director for the National Parkinson’s Foundation (NPF) Moving Day event in Los Angeles for 2015.
We met at the February conference sponsored by Michael J. Fox and Davis Finney Foundations. The grant would allow us to host a multi-session program for physical therapy here in the High Desert, led by trained practitioners. Cooper participated in a self-generated regimen of exercise that eventually released him from his wheelchair to walking and driving his car. This led to his launching Parkinson Moves.
Two graduates of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LVST) training in Tucson – the gold standard for physical therapy, according to Cooper – will assist in the instructions, along with Cooper and others. This will not be your father’s exercise program, as it will teach methods of rehab which can last for years and afford a better quality of life. Watch for information on this program in our desert soon.
Remember, April is Parkinson’s disease awareness month. It is a good time to begin a new program to improve your well-being. A new start of some sort, whether it’s a new attitude, a new meal plan, one more lap around the block or down the driveway and back. Think how one little change could improve your daily appreciation for things around you.
Remember to keep looking up.
Ann Miner is author of “I Lift My Eyes”, and children’s books, “Polly Possum’s Wandering Path” and “Buddy Finds A Home”. She has been active in the Parkinson’s community for 17 years. She lives in Apple Valley, and welcomes your emails: eannminer@yahoo.com.
