A good week at home

We got home Monday night and Tuesday morning, I started the LSVT-BIG physical therapy program at Maple Valley Physical Therapy. I have now completed my first week. What is LSVT-BIG? Here is a blurb:

"LSVT BIG trains people with Parkinson disease (PD) to use their body more normally.  People living with PD or other neurological conditions often move differently, with gestures and actions that become smaller and slower. They may have trouble with getting around, getting dressed and with other activities of daily living. LSVT BIG effectively trains improved movements for any activity, whether “small motor” tasks like buttoning a shirt or “large motor” tasks like getting up from sofa or chair or maintaining balance while walking. The treatment improves walking, self-care and other tasks by helping people “recalibrate” how they perceive their movements with what others actually see. It also teaches them how and when to apply extra effort to produce bigger motions – more like the movements of everyone around them."

I can already see that it is making a difference. It is hard work and I leave my hour session pretty wiped out. Each session gets a little more challenging. Who knows what I'll be doing by the end of July! But I just took a walk with Ellen this evening, and I was able to go farther, faster and more easily than a few weeks ago. I do the hour session four days a week at MVPT, and also a 10-15-minute round of exercises at home twice a day. I'm told I'll be doing the home exercises the rest of my life. I think it will be worth it.

This is MVPT, where I do my therapy and I think that is my therapist, Amy, on the right (it's a little hard to tell with the masks. Everyone, including me, wears a mask). 

This has become a very familiar space for me. 

Thursday, Ellen and I went to Bennington to visit Mary Anderson, her daughter Erica and her family (husband Tom, and children Julien and Clare, who live in South Africa and are visiting), and Tom's parents, Len and Nancy, who live in Hingam,  MA and were also visiting. I performed the wedding of Erica and Tom, and also performed the wedding of Erica's parents, Mary and John. That doesn't happen very often! We had a lovely time together. I had not seen Tom since the wedding (18 years ago?). We had a meal together, broiled salmon, sweet potatoes, salad, and we contributed sweets we got on the way to Bennington at Grandma Miller's bakery (added to a cheese cake Mary made). A feast! Erica manages a biogenetic lab in South Africa and Tom teaches in a primary school. It was wonderful being with them all. One of the things we did was share stories about John Nissen, Julien and Clare's grandpa, because they were pretty young when he died. That was a really good thing to do! 

Here's the group, all except Clare, who took the picture: l. to r., front row: Ellen, Erica, Julien, Tom and Len.  l. to r. back row: Me, Mary, Nancy

Here is a portrait of Clare, Tom, Erica, and Julien:

And here is a picture of the goodies:

Yesterday we went to see Katie and Savanna and had supper with them. Today, Ellen went to visit her friend, Jane, in Norwich, VT and John came over and spent much of the afternoon with me. So it has been a full week in a good way.  

I'll close with this photo of the scene behind the church at dusk - where I am right now:

A lovely time of day!