Sporting life

Sports and recreation

In my youth. I played Baseball  as a kid. I am a left handed thrower and can not throw a straight ball if my life depended on it. So they made me a pitcher. I played hockey but did not have the wrist strength to shoot the puck that well. I found growing up, in whatever sport I tried I was always in the middle, not good enough to make the first team. But not the worst either. Whatever sport I played I could get better with practice.

I did mange to play "Beer league fast pitch softball" for many years. And at the highest local level too.I don't think I fooled anybody. Was I ever out of my league. No way I belonged there. But it was fun. Thanks guys.

Now basically I am a two sport kinda guy, Candle Pin Bowling in the winter and golf in the summer.
At bowling I had a 105 average (which in candle pin is considered a good average, not great but very good) which I had maintained for many years. Suddenly during the 2011 bowling season my average started to fall. I wasn't doing anything differently. It was just I had no idea where the ball was going . The harder I tried to concentrate the worse I got. Understand I have been bowling since I was 9 years old. I was ready to quit. Cheryl told me to keep at it. I came back for the next season. More of the same. The frustration level is climbing through the roof. My average is down to 85.

February 13, 2013 at 4 pm.
It takes about a month to get up to your full dosage of Levodopa. The doctor started me on Levodopa the first appointment. 1 week at half pill. 1 week at 1 full pill. 1 week at 2 pills. By three weeks I am at the full dosage. I start to notice the difference, my tremor has lessened. In the context of the bowling, I am seeing improvement. Next season while things were not back to where they were before, there definitely was progress. This year for the first time in 5 years my average is back over 100.

Through most of my adult life I have golfed. Ask Cheryl, she will definitely tell you. But I never got out enough to join a club, and did not have a regular group of guys to go with. So most of the time I simply went by myself, and played with anyone where I could get on. Prior to February 2013, my golf game was okay. I am not sure if it was the summer of 2013 or 2014, but I started golfing with some of the guys I played ball with years ago. Oh my god, this was great!  Now I had a regular golf group. And we played A LOT. The guys are split in half, two of us shot in the mid to low nineties, two do not. I shoot mid to low nineties. So we kind of paired up. I started to notice a change in my game as I got closer to med time. As it got closer, my game would get a little ragged. I would top the ball and putt the ball nowhere near the hole. I would take the Pills and my game would come back  before the next hole. I would be on the other side of the course away from the cart and my phone would go off. The guys would yell "take your pills". Did I tell you I played a lot? After the incident (see previous blog)  I golfed a little less.  Last year was the best I have ever golfed in my life!
I hit the ball farther now then I did when I was 30!

This year ...

On or about  the first of April. I noticed when I was sitting watching TV, my feet would start to move.
Not the rhythmic tapping you know people do sometimes, sorta circle motions. Not the tremor I had before. Then it would move to my hands. I would put my hands together, like I did when I was hiding the tremor, but that did not work. They moved in a wringing motion. The shocker was the head. Side to side, in circleular motions.

Well it was happening!
I was going to be Michael J Fox. Or rather the stereotypical Parkie.
It's called Dyskinesia. I can not even say the word properly.
Truth be told, it scares the shit out of me!  

Dyskinesia is an abnormal, uncontrolled, involuntary movement. It can affect one body part, such as an arm, leg or the head, or it can spread over the entire body. Dyskinesia can look like fidgeting, writhing, wriggling, head bobbing or body swaying. It doesn't happen in everyone with Parkinson's, and in those who do have it, it occurs to different degrees

 Dyskinesia typically occurs as a complication of long-term levodopa use. Additional factors that may contribute to dyskinesia include a younger age at diagnosis and the use of higher doses of levodopa for extended periods of time.

I had a recent appointment with the Doc, his take... "Well this lets us know you still have some receptors left, and we can work with those receptors." Sure Doc, whatever you say. 
But how is this going to effect my golf game. I just got my drive working.  How do you putt when your body won't stay still.

I recently bowled in the Alpine  bowling Tourney. I Sucked!  Out of the almost 20 games I bowled,   I only broke 100 twice. I was quick to blame the dyskinesia

But as I think back on it, was it that I tried too hard?  Threw too hard?  Put too much pressure on myself?  It wasn't the Parkinson's, it was me.

One of the things that makes a person a Parkie and not a PWP is a PWP will say I can not do something because of the Parkinson's.  A Parkie says " I may not do something as well as I did before, but at least I can still do it."

I am really looking forward to the upcoming golf season.

Remember: IT'S ONLY INCONVENIENT