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Thank you for visiting Challenging Times, The Ramblings of a Cyclopath.
Blogging seemed a good way to publicise a charity cycle from Vietnam to Cambodia with a group of friends who became affectionately known as The Cyclopaths. Still chronicling my cycle training and challenges, four years on, this blog now also offers insights into my experience of living with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. By doing so, I hope to promote an understanding and provide an easy opening to a conversation about the trials, tribulations and the occasional triumphs of living with Parkinson’s.
Blog Posts
!*?*@
It had been a long day. It was early evening and I was rushing for a train to take me home from Sheffield where I had been presenting the ‘patient perspective’ at a conference for healthcare professionals working with people with Parkinson’s. Balance, gait and visual-spacial awareness can all present…
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Shades of Grey
Having recently watched ‘Belfast’ and then ‘The Tourist’, I was reminded of the time I met the actor Jamie Dornan, originally from ’50 Shades of Grey’ fame. If laughter is the best medicine, this one photograph has done much good for my health and that of many of my friends.…
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The ‘F’ Word
I grew up being told never to use the ‘F’ word. It was for this reason that I couldn’t bring myself to watch Gordon Ramsay in Hell’s Kitchen with his prolific use of the ‘F’ word. Over time, however, I’ve developed an affinity with the ‘F’ word. Not just THE…
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Supermarket Sweep
I remember Dale Winton hosting the game show ‘Supermarket Sweep’ in the ’90s. Contestants had to run around a supermarket, collecting shopping items in a race against the clock. When the time was up, the contestant with the shopping trolley filled with items of the most value, was the winner.…
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New Year, New Start
I’ve been pretty damned good at following a comprehensive exercise programme since diagnosis nearly seven years ago. The suggestion and indeed the emerging evidence that I may be rewarded with a slower disease progression is a pretty good motivator. Despite this knowledge it can be soul destroying to spend each…
Keep readingOutpatient DisAppointment
The challenge at a previous outpatient appointment was being asked to rate how I was feeling on a scale of 1 – 10. The challenge for my most recent appointment was to quantify what percentage of the time I was troubled by the symptoms I had just been asked to…
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