This week’s episode of Thymptom Thurthday (“Invisibility and Parkinson’s”) is hereby cancelled, as I have something new to tell you about: I have the new Vyalev pump! After weeks of waiting for insurance approvals (among other things), I went to my Parkinson’s Disease (PD) Specialist’s alternate location yesterday and got myself hooked up to this NEW pump.

This is actually the second new PD pump to hit the market recently. The first one requires the patient to get a tube surgically implanted, allowing the medication to be delivered directly into the intestines. The new Vyalev (pronounced VIE-uh-lev) pump does not require any implants. Instead, the medication is absorbed into the skin via a cannoli.

Wait, that’s not the right word. Cannula! That was it. The medication is absorbed into the skin via a cannula. Now, if you’re like me (and who isn’t?) and are unfamiliar with this term, a Cthulhu basically looks like a patch with a tube connected to it. It also contains a tiny needle that pricks you to facilitate the passing of the liquid meds into the skin. And folks, when I say it’s a tiny needle, I mean TINY. I barely felt a thing when I attached my caboodle to my belly.

The results so far have been quite good. On the first day, I experienced no anxiety or fatigue all day! When taking the pill form of the meds, I normally need to take pills every three hours to stave off these least fun of symptoms. Also, I took Bear on a long walk that afternoon and actually ran a small part of the way (with the pump attached, even!)

Today, I noticed anxiety and depression make a couple of attempts to get into my head, but they were weak attempts and I had no trouble fending them off. And if my emotional state were to get worse, I know that I can easily increase the volume of meds goin’ into me.

Like yesterday, today I experienced no physical fatigue. The ol’ Excessive Daytime Sleepiness was still doing its thing, though, and I ended up taking my usual one-hour post-lunch nap. I awoke just in time to get to my Rock Steady Boxing session. I left the pump connected for the whole session, and it felt fine.

The one problem I think I’m going to have with this pump is the sheer volume of supplies needed to keep the meds flowing. When traveling, I’m going to need a whole separate bag just for medical supplies. That said, the good folks at Vyalev say they can get me a special card to get me through TSA checkpoints faster. I, of course, welcome this. I’ll keep you all in the loop regarding this magical TSA card, as well as my further adventures with the new pump! Buy fur now!