Every time I visit my PD Doctors, I always present as being in tip-top shape. I tap my fingers, tap my toes, and stomp my feet. It all seems good. If there are two or more of the PD team in the room, they tend to look at each other, nod in a surprised-but-pleased way, and say things like “very good.” They may make me do these tasks again, just to verify.
The big surprise is when I stand up and walk smoothly and confidently up and down the hallway while they watch. The last time I did this, they asked me to do it again and again. I perform much better in a doctor’s office than when I’m on my own at home. Part of the reason why I walk so well there is that there are few distractions, and I’m hyper aware of how I stride. I feel like the supermodel Naomi Campbell on a catwalk. If the medical staff thinks I don’t swing my left arm as much as my right, I know how Naomi would fix it, and follow suit. But in general, I seem find and dandy when I visit a PD doctor.
However, when my husband and I walk outdoors in the public parks where we live in the Hudson Valley, it’s a completely different story. I get distracted by all sorts of things: the geese honking at the water’s edge, the dew on the ground in the early morning, or a folk-rock band setting up outside to prepare for a concert. My stride is not smooth, and I often scuff my feet. (You can see this on many of the videos my husband took of me walking, which we’ve uploaded here and here.) Furthermore, at home I often have festinating gait.
But I think there’s more to this. Do any of you have the same experience, too?
