I recently came across a quote attributed to Henry Kissinger that reads, “There can’t be a crisis next week, my schedule is already full.” I can identify with his words only I would amend it to say there can’t be a crisis today because I live with a full schedule. Granted the situations he was referring to were global in scale and my crises are only within my world. It doesn’t make them any less overwhelming for me.

One example from this past week. My husband got a new pair of shoes on Thursday. He insisted on getting a size bigger and they seemed a bit loose but he felt they would be okay. He sets up for exercise on Friday wearing the new shoes and before he can even get started takes a fall. He hit his head and shoulder on the way down, no bruises yet. He missed exercising and I spent the rest of the day watching over him to make sure he was okay. I am not sure it was because of the shoes but they are going back and we are getting the smaller size.

It doesn’t take much to switch a normal day into crisis mode. A fall, a choking incident, or even just an off day with his meds. Things outside our PD world that need my attention fall away and I am focused fully on caring for my husband. Our reality is that these things will happen and I just need to remember that I can handle them. No, let me rephrase that, we can handle them. Fighting PD is a team effort for us and I rely on my husband to tell me when he needs additional help as much as he relies on me to provide it. Getting back to Mr. Kissinger’s remark, Parkinson’s Disease- bring it on! We’re crisis ready here.