My life as a degenerate

When I was in Australia at the end of 2011, my daughter pointed out my terrible posture. I was bent over like my 91-year-old mother, and I noticed that my left arm hung woodenly at my side. I had always prided myself on my posture, so I worked at improving it. But other things were going on too.

Such as my lack of sense of smell. It had been gone for years, which was handy because I didn't notice the doggy smell on the couch, for one thing. Snoring, a sign of sleep apnea, which led to my using Steve's old CPAP machine so he could get some sleep.

I was told I had a quiet voice and people couldn't hear me easily. Then my left shoulder started bothering me - a pain that wouldn't go away. I put all this and other aches and pains down to getting old, not going to the gym, arthritis and osteoporosis, the last of which I was diagnosed with in early 2012.

Websites of interest

10 Early Warning Signs of Parkinson's Disease - by the National Parkinson's Foundation