Parkinson’s takes its toll in weird and unique ways, including fatigue and anxiety. Kevin had driven for Bill previously on a walking tour across the UK, an adventure he enjoyed thoroughly. Since then, he has had Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery, resulting in some physical instability and a heightened anxiety response. Over the last couple of days, Kevin has been experiencing increasing challenges standing up and walking. Camping out in an RV only exacerbates the problem. Kevin has made the difficult – but certainly correct – decision to discontinue the trip and return home.
The downside, of course, is that leaves us without a driver and, since the RV is registered in Kevin’s name, potentially without an RV. That creates a big problem for us and, at this point, we are working on solutions. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, here are some of the highlights and occurrences of the past four days:
- I am writing this note from a rocking chair on a porch overlooking the mountains in Shenandoah National Park.
- We started our trip on an interesting note: Bill conducted and filmed a probing interview of each of us, which he plans to work into a documentary. We all spoke so genuinely. It was a great way to start a trip and friendships.
- In an act of genius, Bill brought a pizza oven. We had a blast customizing our ideal camping pizzas and (eventually) learned how to bake them to perfection
- Bill is riding a trike – a three-wheeled recumbent bike. It is loaned to him by his friend, Davis Phinney, a well-known American cyclist, Bill requires this style of bicycle to help alleviate the back pain that he experiences in almost every other posture due to a back injury and recent surgery. It has been a learning experience for Bill, and he has a love/hate relationship with the bike: Love, in the sense that it is so comfortable and has the perfect shape to eliminate his back pain; hate, as it can be prone to calamity. In one day, Bill suffered a chain snarl that knotted the drivetrain into a kitten’s play toy. Once repaired, Bill then had a bizarre tire blow out where the entire circumference of the wheel ruptured. This put him into the ditch, which drew a lot of attention and helpful responders, including one retirement-aged woman who picked up the trike and put it in her truck to relocate him to a safer location. People can be awesome.
- I have cycled the past few days with Lee and, though she initially faked me out with a slow crawl, by midday she is in full flight and gets faster every day.
- In our mountain retreat, the cleaner just showed up to make us an enormous bonfire. Joy.
- Most of us deal with our stress by eating. Li’s form of stress relief is baking. Problem solved.
