striving inch by inch…
The most frustrating aspect of Parkinson’s is the inconsistency. Everything can be going great a few days in a row and you feel ready to focus on going another step, but then suddenly you are two steps back. In my dad’s case, physical pain or stiffness can randomly appear in a new location, or his mind might just not make the same connections as before and I struggle to make sense of how best to approach the moving targets.
When he first moved in, I had big plans with a regular weekly schedule, daydreaming that we’d be working together to attack this thing and get over new hurdles. Tuesday and Friday we’d do leg stretches and exercises, Monday and Thursday would be arms. Walks. Showers. But that was way too optimistic and I’ve slowed my pace to allow him more time to adjust to this new place and routine.
Now he’s been here a month and we are generally in a decent daily routine, but the exercises and additional work have been sporadic due to his feeling weaker and/or random pains. I’m doing my best to stay flexible and roll with his ups and downs, but my brain is just having trouble not trying to measure against some sense of progress toward a longer term goal. One day at a time!