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Late-stage PD doesn't mean my family stops moving!
The story of my spring 2023 goes like this. My wife and I picked up pickleball in the street, and now my dad (Parkinson’s and dementia) wants in on the action.
Pickle ball proved too advanced, so we switched to bopping a red luftballon back and forth in the living room.
What if the mission was to keep dad participating in activities he enjoys as he ages? [1]
We’re keeping healthy through exercise. We’re spending quality time between father and son. We’re safe and sound in our living room, ready for light competition and alotta fun.
My dad likes it. He’s good at it.
We count the number of back-and-forths we can get between us.
Sometimes he drops the balloon. Sometimes I do. Sometimes it’s his fault. Sometimes it’s mine. So far, neither of us has cheated.
Researchers have started thinking that Sports Science is a good therapeutic intervention for Parkinson’s disease. [3] I read it on the internet, so me and my dad are training reps on the featherweight luftpopper.
With my dad, it’s late-stage Parkinson’s that’s the culprit. I learned on the internet that exercise enhances physical functioning for people living with Parkinson’s. Things like muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination
Anybody’s body gets better with exercise, and for daddio’s unique set of aging-related complications, it ain’t no different. Physical activity stimulates cognitive abilities too. Things like attention, memory, and problem-solving skills important for aging people with and without Parkinson’s.
There may be some conditions where rest (no exercise) is recommended. Graycare (graycare.net) is NOT a doctor. I’m just saying, my exercise is good for good old dad, so this is what I do with my dad.
But the real benefit I’m getting at today is, living room exercise with elderly family members is a mood booster for families finding quality time with other family members harder to come by these days. The overall emotional well-being achieved through a quick game of living room luftballon is the real reason I’m writing this post for readers in similar circumstances.
We had a blast 99 times over. My dad was good at it.
20+ years into his Parkinson’s diagnosis, my dad was proud to show off how good he is at playing luftballon in the living room. I’m his son and caregiver, and I was proud to facilitate this moment.
Regular indoor exercise is a straightforward way to get along with someone you’re frustrated with after hours caring for them.
A 3-minute round of light indoor sports was a simple way I can give my dad some more social interaction, and to give Alexa #ad some respite from entertaining my dad.
Individuals like my dad with late-stage Parkinson's find social interactions like this fewer and farther between such a condition spans from “early treatment” to “late management” stages over the years. [2]
Neunundneunzig Luftballon: I call it trying to get 99 reps bopping the Living Room Luftballon with my old dad. Volleyballs are too hard and heavy. So we got a balloon. After 20 years of diagnosis, we chose not to setup a net. My dad can do it while seated.
Neunundneunzig means 99 in German.
He’s good at it. He likes it.
I’m delivering an activity my dad enjoys into his late stages of life. Without lil gangreen, Big Poppa wouldn’t be pushing and bragging like he’z. It brought back this crackle of physical prowess into his life.
Any sort of red luftballon will do.
If your mom and dad are like my dad, they sit and watch TV way too much.
Switch the channel to YouTube or or any other video channel you like. Oodles of free and paid video resources online provide guided yoga sessions specifically designed for individuals with limited mobility.
It’s another one my dad could do from his recliner. A good one for other family caregivers handling an aging family member’s mobility obstacles.
There’s a reason why my dad keeps foam softened 3 and 5 pound dumbbells by his chair.
Besides making a common thing to trip over, it’s the classic simple strength training exercise.
When Alexa puts on the Jamaican Vibrations, my dad and me make for some groovy father son time goofing around like chillin’s.
Dancing can be done in any living space, and seated dancing is the craze in 2023 memory care facilities.
Do it following instructional videos or just jive like it’s 1999 for me and 1969 for my dad. Dancing promotes
All that snazzy jiving movement is working the footloose coordination.
It’s the tribal form of emotional expression my dad and me prefer to get safely hyphy with.
In Asian countries, they build city parks with senior-specific equipment to get the blood flowing and stretch out those joints.
Stretching keeps a person limber, but it’s uncomfortable to do, and a chore to keep up.
Livingroom luftballon is a late-stage Parkinson’s friendly sport which my dad and me invented. It’s like volleyball with a balloon, and the rules bent in my dad’s favor. My dad sits in his power recliner while we bop the luftballon back and forth collaboratively trying to increase reps between us.
Graycare is NOT a doctor, and indoor exercise like this is how me and my dad are getting along as healthy as we know how.
It don’t gotta be balloon volleyball. Try video guided yoga. Do some chair-based dancing to your favorite tunes, or if you can take the strain, try nice-and-easy stretching! The point is, there are easy options for you to play sports or exercise interactively with your aging family member. I’ve shown you how lil gangreen and Big Poppa do it!
More than physical health, sports and indoor games that get you moving also let caregivers (spouses, adult children) enjoy time with our family members as their age slowly steals them away from us.
[1] Participating in Activities You Enjoy As You Age. National Insitute on Aging (NIA).
