Meditation on Parkinson's

It's Leap Year Day!
I meditate twice a day . My goals are to accelerate the physical healing precess and to slow down the progress of the Parkinson's.
Yesterday Maryanne asked if there was any evidence that meditation would reduce the progress of Parkinson's Disease. Not that I know of, but I think meditation is a lot like prayer. It's a mental process that depends to some extent on faith. Specifically, with respect to Parkinson's, the cause is synapses firing involuntarily. If meditation is a mental process (fooling the mind into believing something not tangible) and the synapses are part of the mind/brain collaboration, one should be able to modify the firing of the synapses to ones own will. At least that's the theory.
I have also proposed in the past that the same thing could be accomplished by modifying the Universal Hologram or by altering the vibrational modes of the strings of String Theory. Both of which turned out to be unworkable for my needs at the time. So read this entire missive with the proverbial grain of salt.
I have observed that the shaking due to the Parkinson's stops while I meditate. At least it slows down the progress for 20 minutes, twice a day.
In the meantime my foremost therapy is walking a little further each day. I walked 200 yards twice yesterday. It's my knees that give out, not my neck which continues to be a only a minor inconvenience due to the neck brace. Other that that the healing continues satisfactorily.

Blue skies,
Dick

Today I walked

Yesterday the physical therapist had me walk about 150 feet while he walked along beside me for steadiness. Today I made the same walk and added about 30 feet. My knees were the limiting parts. I'll add about the same distance each day.
Every day I meditate twice a day to accelerate the healing process and to limit the advance of the Parkinsons disease. It seems to be working on both counts.
Today the weather is sunny and warm and great for the outdoors.
Russ Clifford has suggested that my engine problem could have been the result of vapor lock in the fuel line. I'll investigate that.

Dick

I'm recovering.... still

I'm at home recovering. I am able to dress myself, make my meals and keep things reasonably neat. Yesterday the physical therapist came by and motivated me to get outside, away from the tv. We walked along the sidewalk out front of the house for oabout 100 yards without stopping. I can go further and will today. If I can go a few yards further each day pretty soon I'll be jogging around the block.
Meanwhile, the cats are settling gown to the new routine. Tigger sits on the arm of my chair whilst I watch the electric TV. Budda sleeps at the foot of my bed assuring himself that I am still here. I think he suffered the most from separation anxiety. He checks on me several times each night by licking my face with his sandpaper tongue.
Deb and husband Rick came down on Sunday to help with some grocery shopping and a few chores. Deb stood outside the bathroom door while I took my first shower. I didn't need any help. I'm clean again!
Deb calls on the telephone once a day to make certain I'm still here and Homeland Security designees Laura and Jonnie stop by at the end of the day to see if I need anything. The Girl Scout cookies were delicious.
Sonex builder Russ Clifford stopped by for a chat about my incident and his building progress. Good company.
Everything considered, I'm doing really well. The Sundown Symptom is gone for good (I hope).
My greatest concern is the upcoming election for which the Repubs have been removing potentially Demo voters from the registration roles using illegal caging techniques. After 16 years of voting from the dame address, both Deb and husband Rick have been removed from the voter rolls. They didn't find out about it until they tried to vote. It was too late. As great as this country is, we couldn't stand another 4 years of the malicious destruction of our Constitution.
Dick , el Stupido Piloto and blog master.

Picking it up

I last left you in a hardware store in Claremont, CA. That was my introduction to the Sundown Syndrom. I was there. I've done hallucinogens and they're nowhere as realistic as this. The mind does strange things when disconnected from reality. I can look back on the 4-5 episodes I encountered and realize how I accepted suggestions from the environment. The cats in ICU were because when I was sedated, Deb came in every day and reminded me that the house was OK the cats were OK and I would be better soon. Little did I realize how shaken Deb was by my condition. But I picked up on the cats. The Philapino reunion was prompted by the preponderance of Philapino staff there were at the hospital. Each instance, real as they all were, were clearly prompted by my environment.
At the rehab center I was in a three bed room and I had the bed next to the door. I saw a slice of life through the door. Staff, patients and visitors... 24 hour, 7 days. It was difficult sleeping in a strange bed, a strange room and wearing the hard collar. Thanks to old friend Kathy for driving down from So. Lake Tahoe to sleep in a chair next to me holding my hand. Vicodin helped but old friends are better.
Soomone came into the room every 4 hours to take blood pressure info, day and night. The blood pressure was consistently 120 -125 over something. One night while I was meditating on the damage GWB has caused this country, the nurse came in to take my blood pressure. Even in the dream state GWB had raised my blood pressure 10 POINTS! In my sleep!
But it was great in the All Saints rehab center. Each morning came the soft call ri-CHARD. So I'd roll over and look into the beautiful brown Philipina eyes. Time to start the day.
While I was enjoying myself for the first few days, little did I realize that most of the patients here were not quick in and out like myself, but children a year old who would never know what child hood should be and stroke and accident victims who were unaware of their surroundings. I couldn't go there again.
But I did suggest a kazoo band for the kids. The supervisor suggested that probably wouldn't work since most of the mobile kids had a trach in their throat. I'll bet the kids would have seen the humor in 10 kids marching down the hall with kazoos stuck in the trachs.
Any way, I'll never forget the time spent at the All Saints Rehab Center.
Tomorrow... the Fire Department brings me to Deb's housel

Sorry for the interruption

I apologize to the blog followers for the interruption in information. I have been unable to access the portion from which I can write. Now that I can access this section, I'll be back tomorrow.
Dick

Dick's update Presidents Day 2008

As I left you yesterday, I was restrained in a hardware store in Claremont. I thought today I'd make a reminder about where I was and when and come back to the hardware store later.
The incident ocurred December 28 at about 11:30am. I was carried by ambulance to a local hospital where they found my Kaiser card. Thence by Mercy Air helcopter ( we rec'd a copy of the $16,000 bill) to the Kaiser facility in Los Angeles. I was kept in a state of suspended animation for about a week while they stablized me and diagnosed the problem. Neither Deb nor brotherr Bob had any knoweldge of where I was until I was found at the hospital on January 2. The successful operation to place pins in my neck bone to strengthen it was Jan 11. Then I spent about a week in Intensive Care where I went through 4-5 bouts of Sundowner Symptom. Each day Deb came in and asked me if I knew who she was. "Of course I know".
But since I coudn't speak she didn't know it. Use of a sheet of paper with the aphabet on it, to which I'd point out the letters was humorous since I could barely hit the paper, no less, what was written on it. But each day Deb came in and asked the same question and gave me an update on the cats, the house and response from friends.
Two weeks in the regular hospital and it was off to All Saints Rehab on January 22. I was discharged from All Saints on February 5 to Deb's care where I've been since. The rehab center was an emotioinal experience.
The latest news is that we drove down to Fullerton Saturday and visited with brother Bob and Dianne. Bless 'er Heart Laura, came over to welcome me back after having put up elaborate Welcome home signs. Beautful.. Thanks. I did see Budda but he was standoffish but I never did see Tigger.
The most exciting thing is that I'm going home to stay on Tuesday! The house is spic and span and well organized. It's great to have a highly organized daughter. So... starting on Wednesday, I will be at my own house with the cats.
C'mon by.

Dick (el stupido piloto),the blog master

First Post From Dick Hein Himself

There I was. 3500 feet above the ground flying along without a care in the world. 100 horse power pulling me through the air at 125 mph. Then auddenly it was quiet. The engine had stopped. I wasn't concerned, airplanes fly without power all the time. They're called gliders. Bernoulli's theorem doesn't quit because the engine did.
"Fly the airplane", the mantra. I reduced speed to 70 mph to minimize the rate of descent while I selected a landing place in an open field. Just before I had noticed an abandoned ultralight field below. Trying to restart the engine got the engine turning at 1200rpm instead of the usual 2700rpm. Maybe I can nurse this baby home yet I thought.
and then it quit for good.
When I set up to land at the field I was way too high and decided to select another field off to my left. I could see a row of power lines I could easily clear. On short final I seemed to have lots of room to make the landing so I slowed to just over stall speed (47 mph). That's the last thing I remember until I was on the ground hanging upside down from my harness. I released the safety harness and crawled out from under the plane through the broken canopy. I remember standing up and leaning against the wing.
Then my savior Dick Deboer, an EMT, arrived. He had watched the entire episode and was at my side in seconds. He had me down on the ground and protected my neck in case of neck injury. In the meantime an un-named man had crawled into the cockpit to close the gas line precluding a fire. Then I recall seeing an ambulance coming across the field, being lifted onto a gurney and placing me in the ambulance.
The next thing I remember was waking up, restrained in a hospital bed in a hardware store in Claremont California being attended by two nurses in white. I was in no pain and was disturbed only because I was being held unconstitutionally against my will. All the pleading, yelling and threatening didn't get me freed. Wait for the doctors they said.
I didn't want a doctor, I was fine. I wanted a goddamed lawyer to get me out of there.
MORE TO FOLLOW...

From Uncle Bob

Diane and I visited with Dick and Debbie yesterday (Saturday) at his home in Fullerton. Debbie drove Dick over from her house in Studio City, I took the train up from Oceanside, and Diane drove over after her softball practice in Westminster. Diane was too late to join us for lunch.

The purpose of Dick's visit was to see if he would be comfortable at home by himself. Turns out he will be and the plan now is to move him back home this coming Tuesday.

Deb and Dick picked me up at the Fullerton station and we drove to the house. There, taped to his front porch were two great signs, which his neighbor Laura had posted, welcoming him back. Sounds like she will be happy to get out of her cat care duties!

Anyway Dick looks better. He walks with the aid of a cane for now, mostly for balance, and it appears that he will be able to manage alone OK as long as he has some transportation assistance for a while. For this his son, Rick, will be joining him shortly for a two week stay. They have arranged all his MD, etc., appointments for that period so Rick will be his driver then. Dick appears quite comfortable even though he is still in a neck brace which gives him some trouble when sleeping at night. Looks like the brace will be required for a while yet - as a safety precaution.

In his absence Debbie had arranged to have the house cleaned and straightened up so that the place will be bright and cheery for his return. She has also reorganized his living expenses so he can ease in to a return to normal living.

There have been no postings to the blog lately. Debbie has been catching up on her own work but is going to arrange thing so that Dick takes over as blogmaster. Hopefully this will occur with in the next couple of days.


Uncle Bob, Bob Hein, or Dad - Depending

Big Corporations

Those of you who have been with the blog for a while may remember the day Shell Oil Company dinged me for $15.00 after I paid Dad's Shell bill one day late, and refused to even discuss the matter with me -- they are willing to cash my check, but they won't discuss the account with me.

Now it's Time Warner. The rehab facility hooked up Dad's cable TV in the facility. On Friday, a bill arrived. I was chagrined to realize that the rehab facility and Time Warner can, between the two of them, open an account in my name (not Dad's) and start billing me, all without even discussing it with me. This seems unreasonable to me. No corporation has the right to open an account in my name and bill me without my consent. Or so you would think.

I called them on Sunday to close the account. They asked me for my phone number, which I gave them, but since it wasn't associated with the account they got confused. The account number wasn't enough for them to identify the account (?!?). When we finally sorted it out, they put me on hold and dribbled inane marketing messages into my ear for 15 minutes before I finally hung up to preserve some of my precious Sunday afternoon. About half an hour later I thought better of it: if they can open the account in my name, what's to stop them from continue to bill me month after month. Better to deal with the problem now, I thought.

Yeah, right. I tried again, went through the whole routine a second time, and ended up in the same position: on hold for 15 minutes, listening to them pour marketing messages into my brain. I just couldn't take it.

This morning I tried sending an e-mail. Here was their response:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the long hold time that you
may have had when calling our Customer Service department. Please be
assured that your Customer Service experience is our main priority and
we are working hard to be able to address your concerns in a timely
manner.

We are sorry to hear that you will be leaving us and we regret losing
you, a valued customer. Time Warner Cable understands that your time is
important and our commitment to your customer service experience is our
top priority. To comply with your request for disconnection, you will
need to contact our 24 hour customer service at 1 888 892 2253 or you
can visit a local office.

To find the office nearest to you, please visit us online at:

https://ecare.timewarnerla.com/cablestores/


If there is anything else we can assist with, please let us know how we
can help. Have a nice day!

So my choice are: 1) repeat the business with the phone, or 2) drive somewhere. I responded: I AM NOT YOUR CUSTOMER. I suggested that if they are able to open an account in my name without my assistance, they ought to be able to close it without my assistance. Then I said "Have a nice day!". Their response:

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately we are unable to set up disconnection from this office. You will need to call in to set up a disconnection. Please call our customer care center at 1-888-892-2253.
Representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once again we thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable and have a wonderful day!

I'm tired of this crap. I tried the FCC web site, and gave that up after 20 minutes. I'm tired of people coming at me with their hand out, and believe me it's been non-stop since the day this began.

An Active Day

We set a goal today of doing several walks longer than yesterday's "baseline" walk. Dad blew through that goal and did more: he did six "baseline plus 14 steps" walks, *and* went out my sliding glass door and sat in the sun on my patio mid-afternoon, and drank a root beer. He's talking full steps, as opposed to shuffling, and only used the walker on the trip to the patio -- all other walks were on his own. He's not getting as tired after each walk. He did two full rounds of his PT exercises. He's definitely dedicated to completing his tasks, and his commitment is paying off. It's a lovely dat here in Southern California, sunny and 78 degrees. Dad likes to watch the hawks.

Kaiser Comes Through

Kaiser sent a home health worker by today, and she was excellent. She did a very thorough and respectful and professional inquiry into every aspect of Dad's health and recovery, gave us lots of information, spoke to me about all of my concerns, and in general greatly eased my mind. She confirmed what the rehab PT person said: Dad's strength is fine, but his stamina is extremely low, and there's nothing surprising or extraordinary about his path to recovery. Things will take time. She gave him a lot of advice on how to protect himself, and how to challenge himself. I couldn't have asked for more.

Progress Is Slow

There was a new host of challenges associated with checking out of rehab and moving into my house. First and foremost, the rehab facility didn't send in his prescriptions to the pharmacy, and late Wednesday I realized we had no medications. That started a round of phone calls. By last Thursday I finally had the prescriptions called in and got them filled. Next up: getting hooked up with home health care, the folks who will come by and do physical therapy with Dad. Then there were all the things associated with establishing a routine: getting Dad up to speed on how to use the phone, the computer, the television, learning where the light switches and the bathroom are, and getting stocked with things for him to eat. He needed flex straws to drink over the neck brace, and a back-lit watch to help him keep oriented towards time, and an electric blanket, etc. etc. I'm trying to get him involved in things: he called the NTSB today. But he tires very, very quickly. So we're taking only small steps right now.

Coming Home

On the way home from Kaiser, we stopped at the local firestation, where we had agreed to meet the guys who would help Dad up the steps. They were arriving at the station house just as we drove up, and so they followed us to my house. My tiny quiet one-lane dead-end street was suddenly hopping with activity. The guys evaluated the situation, and tried to figure out whether they should use a chair. Finally they decided just to form a circle around him so that he couldn't fall, then they walked him up the two flights of stairs. They were wonderful, wonderful people.

Then they left, and suddenly it was peaceful and quiet again, and I realized: Dad's back in the world, back to life. He's sleeping in the next room right now.

Discharged From All Saints

I went over about 7:00AM this morning. Dad had breakfast, his last meal in the rehab facility, then we got him dressed using a combination of clothes I had brought from his house, some of my things, and some new stuff I bought at the Gap on Monday. He got into the wheelchair and went up and down the length of the facility (which essentially a long hallway) saying goodbye to people. Everyone gathered around to say goodbye to their favorite patient. Lisa from Activities even came in early so as not to miss Dad's departure, and she promised to follow his progress on this blog. We packed everything up, then wheeled him out to my car, then I returned the wheelchair.

We were a little early for the doctor's appointment, so I drove him around a little, just to let him see the world. I showed him where I do yoga, and we stopped for gas, and went into a grocery store to get something he likes to drink. Then we went to Kaiser, and saw him through the process of getting a check-up from the neurosurgeon's Physician's Assistant. Not much news, just a lot of assignments: go here, pay this, check in here, go get an x-ray, wait for this and that. Finally we talked to the P.A., who looked at the x-ray and confirmed that everything is moving along nicely. He said the collar needs to remain on, maybe for another 6-7 weeks.

While we were waiting for the doctor, Dad and I talked about when my brother Ricky would be coming down. We might be able to use his visit to make the transition down to Dad's house. Rick's going to try to get leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and we could use his time down here in Southern California to make sure Dad gets all the things done that will require attention when he gets home: follow-up appointments, the dentist, new eyeglass prescription, his cats, etc.

The story of getting back to my house requires another post.

Murrieta City Council Report From Uncle Bob

Diane and I attended the Murrieta City Council meeting this evening for the presentation of their proclamation honoring Dick Deboer. I had previously contacted Murrieta City Hall and was granted a few minutes to speak at the meeting, in brother Dick's behalf.

Dick Deboer was the first EMT type person to attend Dick following his crash. He happened to be shopping at the local mall when he saw the plane going down and drove over to see if he could help. At the accident site he recognized a potential neck injury and stabilized his neck until the Murrieta EMT team arrived. It was easy to recognize Dick - he was there with his wife, twin daughters and parents and we were able to introduce ourselves prior to the start of the meeting.

The presentation was well done. The mayor invited myself, Dick Deboer and the Murrieta Chief of Police up to the podium as a group. On the wall above the podium they had projected a huge photograph taken at the scene of the accident which I had not seen before. It showed brother Dick lying on the ground beside the plane with Dick Deboer tending to him. The chief of Police read the proclamation and after a round of applause I was asked to say a few words. After thanking the City Council for the opportunity to express our appreciation I briefly reviewed the events which have transpired from then till now and then read the message which brother Dick had composed (also attached). It was an emotional effort for me and I choked up several times.

Dick Deboer also spoke a little saying how glad he was that he was able to help and how fortunate he was able to be at the right place at the right time. He also indicated that he was glad that Debbie had contacted him so he was able to keep up on Dick's progress. It turns out that EMT type personnel rarely get any feedback from the people attend. He was also appreciative of the blog which Debbie started and is looking forward to Dick's comments when he becomes the blogmaster.

We spoke briefly with the Deboer group outside following the meeting. Nice family. We agreed to stay in touch and all get together with Dick and Debbie as soon as Dick was well enough to do so.

Dad, or Uncle Bob, or Bob Hein - depending

Dick DeBoer

Dick DeBoer, the Goo d Samaritan who helped Dad right after his crash landing, will be honored tomorrow night at a meeting of the Murrieta City Council. Pictured here is the proclamation they issued. Uncle Bob will be representing the family at the meeting. If you click on the image, it will open in a larger window.

Flying in Formation

Dad calls this "flying in formation." That's Father Gregory, his roommate and new friend on Dad's right, and his old friend and fellow pilot Tom Conklin on his left. Dad and Father Gregory take their walks together now, and yesterday Tom played wing man.

Dad's coming home with me on Wednesday. We're trying to get everything organized: supplies, prescriptions, clothes, etc. We've talked about this transition being a return to life: he'll be sleeping in a regular bed, wearing real street clothes during the day, and attending to things that need to be done. He can put out whatever level of effort feels appropriate to him, and spend the rest of his time relaxing, napping, reading.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts this week -- it was important for me to get back to work. I'm still visiting Dad twice a day at All Saints, and he's still the star there, especially with the students from the nearby vocational school. He got a kazoo band going yesterday, though he said that everyone was playing a different song.

Dad will be coming home with me next Wednesday. I'll pick him up at All Saints, then drive him to Kaiser for a follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon. We hope the hard collar around his neck will come off at that point. Then I will drive him back to my house, and I will I hope by that time found some people to help me get him upstairs -- maybe one of the medical transport companies recommended by All Saints. Once he is upstairs, he will have a bedroom, a bathroom, a TV, a telephone, room for his computer. I've got a list of things that need to be done, and he can begin to pick up the threads of his life by contacting the insurance company, thinking about what to do with the plane, and otherwise making plans for the future. I think I will also make him blogmaster at that point, and let him keep everyone up-to-date himself.

He's doing very well, and looking forward to getting out of All Saints, though he will probably miss all of the attention.