May Birthdays May Anniversaries - sanandreasmoversandshakers.org

NEWSLETTER
San Andreas Movers & Shakers…it’s not OUR fault!
P.O. Box 645, Altaville, CA. 95221 / Telephone 209-754-5360
e-mail: parkinsonsmoversandshakers@gmail.com
www.sanandreasmoversandshakers.org
VOLUME THREE NO. 5
May 1, 2015
Newsletter Editor: Joe Fleischman
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Barbara Pollard; President, Secretary, Publicity
Joe Fleischman; Vice President, Newsletter, Library
Judy Axtman; Treasurer, Membership Roster, Hospitality
Gary Davidson, Program Coordinator & Refreshment Coordinator
Mona Harris; Hospitality
MEETING, April 7, 2014.
As you all know we did not have a guest speaker last month so we held a round table
discussion. You will be happy to know that at our June meeting Terese Dell’Orto, Speech
Language Pathologist will be the guest speaker. Terese is willing to give a talk or have a sit
down question and answer session with us, it depends on what you would like to have, so let
me know at this month’s meeting.
In July we have scheduled Love Miller from California Telephone Access Program (CTAP) to be
our guest speaker.
Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2015.
We will be moving our meeting place over to the Mark Twain Hospital for our patient/care giver
meeting. We will meet in classrooms, located in the back of the hospital near the helicopter
landing pad.
We will have our business session from 10:00 – 10:30 to cover any current business we may
have.
Then we will break up into patient and caregiver groups, Judy Axtman will be leading the
caregiver group with David Harris and Jack Axtman leading the patient group.
Thank you Barbara and Harold for the great refreshments last month we all enjoyed them.
This month’s refreshments are brought to you by Derrell.
May Birthdays
Jack Axtman
Vera Bogosian
Ray Crawford
Betty Dergen
Keith Tallia
Judy Venckus
Helen Behrbaum
Derrell Pulis
Harold Pollard
Gary Ables
We wish you a very Happy Birthday and many more.
May Anniversaries
Marcy & Gary Davidson
Barbara & Harold Pollard
Happy Anniversary to you and we wish you
continued happiness in your partnership.
SAN ANDREAS MOVERS & SHAKERS…it’s not OUR fault!!
MEMBERS NEWS
I received a call from a friend of mine who has Parkinson’s with tremor. He told me
about a spoon that was developed by Google that helps stabilize the tremor action
when eating. You can see it in action if you go to Liftware stabilizer- google on the
internet. He is willing to come and demonstrate it if we would like.
WEBSITE
Our web site www.sanandreasmoversandshakers.org is up and running. If you have any ideas
or would like to see something added to the web site please let me know.
Since we have had a number of new members join us I thought I would include the following for
those who are new.
Parkinson’s is a chronic and progressive disease that typically affects individuals over age 50.
Progressive means it worsens over time and chronic means that it persists over a long period of
time. Parkinson’s is a brain disease that affects the motor skills and muscle movements.
The four main symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are tremor, or a trembling in the hands,
arms, legs, jaw, and face; a rigidity, or stiffness of the trunk and of the limbs; slowness of
movement; and lastly instability of posture, or impaired balance and coordination. As the disease
progresses individuals may have difficulty walking, talking, or doing simple tasks.
At the onset of Parkinson’s the symptoms are subtle and they occur very slowly over time. The
disease may progress quickly for some and not for others. The shaking, and tremors will begin to
interfere with the performance of tasks over time. Other than the four main symptoms the other
symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are depression, difficulty when swallowing or chewing,
difficulty speaking, having difficulty urinating, constipation, skin issues, and sleep disturbances.
The diagnosis for Parkinson’s disease is made by medical history and a neurological
examination. At the present time there is no laboratory test to confirm the diagnosis. It can be
difficult for doctors to diagnose Parkinson’s. Brain scans or laboratory tests may be done to rule
out other diseases in an attempt to come up with a diagnosis.
There is no known cure for Parkinson’s but there are medications that can be used to bring relief
from the symptoms. The most common drug therapy is levodopa combined with Carbidopa.
Other medicines used are anticholinergics, bromocriptine, pramipexole, ropinirole, rasagiline,
and amantadine.
When medications do not relieve the symptoms surgery may be necessary. There is a therapy
called deep brain stimulation (DBS) used to decrease the involuntary movements and to alleviate
fluctuations of symptoms and to help reduce the tremors, slowness of movements, and any issues
with walking.
SAN ANDREAS MOVERS & SHAKERS…it’s not OUR fault!!
Not every patient experiences Parkinson’s in the exact same manner. Some individuals
experience symptoms to the point where they become severely disabled, while others experience
only minor motor symptoms. The disease may differ regarding which symptom is the major
symptom as for some individual’s tremors becomes the major symptom and for others with
Parkinson’s the major symptom is impaired balance and coordination. The severity of the
symptoms can vary from one Parkinson’s patient to the next also.
New research is being done in order to develop new drug therapies and to search for a cure for
Parkinson’s disease.
Well-known individuals who have Parkinson’s include actor Michael J. Fox, ruler of Cuba for 46
years, Fidel Castro and Plymouth Argyle manager Paul Stur