Every morning when I wake up, I can't believe it. I recall how things were back in 2016 at the low point of my experience, and I compare it to how they are today. I thank the Good Lord that I remember what happened yesterday, I know what's on the agenda for today, and I just feel great. (Ummm... depending a bit on how much insomnia I had the night before). I'm involved in several studies of memory and cognition in people with Alzheimer's disease, and I can tell that I do really well on their tests -- again, compared to how I was doing six or so years ago.
But I've whined before about how my balance went really bad about two years ago, and I really, really want it back. Compared to what I remember of my two grandfathers when they were my age, and compared to friends who are older than me, my balance and gait have really deteriorated.
As we wrote in Beating the Dementia Monster, I first began having balance problems as long ago as 2013. Tests of my vestibular system find that it works fine, but the Alzheimer's disease was killing the part of my brain that coordinated information from that and other sensory systems. I learned physical therapy exercises that served me very well until my balance went so bad. They still work some but not the way they worked before. And the degree of instability has only grown. I want my balance to go back to the way it used to be.
A few months ago I spent more than an hour on a Telmed Zoom call with three specialists from the University of Washington's Harborview hospital in Seattle. One of their conclusions was I should get physical therapy from a local provider -- and we have some good ones here.
So this week I had an evaluation from a physical therapist specializing in problems like mine. I told him that I have good days and bad days, and that day was actually one of my better days. After 45 minutes of all kinds of tests, he told me that I was doing about as well as I could expect. In fact, he thought I was doing quite well. I may not like it, but the combination of my age and the neurodegeneration from the disease pretty much determine that I should be having at least as much trouble as I am. I could come back, and he could try pursuing some specific goals, but he doubted I would experience any satisfying improvements.
Disappointing, yes. But I need to count my blessings. I'm totally happy with where I am with memory and cognition, and so are my neurologists. When I do my physical therapy exercises every day, I can tell that I'm better than I would be if I didn't bother. So I do them.
I have added one PT exercise that I do at the gym every day. I stand on a BOSU ball for five minutes in addition to the head exercise I described in Beating the Dementia Monster. I've come to the conclusion that the combination of these two exercises, done every day, will give me the best balance I'm going to get.
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