One of the main problems for the traveling Parkinson’s patient is keeping track of the large number of medications and dietary supplements some of us are on. At home, I have divided my meds into two groups: daytime and bedtime. Daytime meds are lined up along a … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (Day 2)
And just like that, my Mississippi state vacation is underway. Just like what? Well, like this…
The plan for Day One was to leave home at 4:00 AM for Charlotte Douglas International Airport, then fly to George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Once in Houston, I was to change planes, then fly to Jackson, Mississippi. I would then rent a car and drive to Red Bluff. After photographing Red Bluff, I would then drive to a hotel in the city of Natchez. That was the plan. Here’s what actually happened…
I left home at 4:00 AM for Charlotte Douglas International Airport, then flew to George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. All good so far. Once inside the terminal, I checked the “Departures” monitor to see which gate I had to get to next. To my shock and awe, next to the gate number there appeared the word, CANCELED. This was a little concerning. I made my way to the listed gate anyway, to ask the gate agent what options they might have for me. As it stood, there was ONE more flight to Jackson today, for which they could give me “priority standby”. And there was an available seat on tomorrow morning’s flight. They gave me both of these, but the gate agent seemed to think it was rather likely that one or both of these flights may end up canceled as well. It occurred to me that I may be able to alter my car rental reservation to start at Houston rather than Jackson, so I asked about retrieving my checked bag at Houston instead of them flying it to Jackson. The gate agent suspected this may take 4 or 5 hours, as the baggage folks were facing serious issues due to a slew of cancelations the previous day.
And so I left the gate and headed for the baggage claim, to get the baggage department’s opinion on the matter. On the way there, I looked at Google Maps and found that a drive from Houston to Natchez would take about six hours. This would require eliminating Red Bluff from my itinerary, but I went ahead and called Enterprise and successfully changed my car rental. Fortunately, the baggage folks didn’t have any trouble retrieving my bag for me, so I had it within just a few minutes. I also had no trouble with the just-changed car rental, so I was on the road less than two hours after landing at Houston. I drove north out of Houston, then east across Louisiana’s, um, ankle. I only made four stops: one for nappin’ and three for caffeine. Well, and maybe about eight more stops to scream at the Google Maps Navigation app.
Given everything you’ve seen on this blog to date, I’m sure you’d all agree that Colorado is a very scenic place. Thus, it should come as no surprise to learn the state government has designated some of Colorado’s roads as official Colorado Scenic Byways. The first to be … Continue reading Peak to Peak Scenic Byway (June-July 2012)
Well over a decade ago, I read somewhere that air fares tend to be least expensive from 18 to 28 days prior to the flight. This has proved true time and time again over the years. Many times, I have looked at flight prices over a month in advance, and been tempted by a good price. And many times, I have waited until that 18 – 28 day window, and been rewarded with an even better price.
But not so this time. A week from tomorrow, I will be leaving for Mississippi. This trip will conclude with a one-way flight from Birmingham, Alabama back home to Charlotte. When I was initially plotting this trip a couple of months ago, I was tempted to buy this ticket the first time I looked, as it was only $133 at the time. But, as always, I waited, hoping an even better price would emerge. This time it didn’t; I ended up paying $204 for this flight. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, as the flight I ended up booking is with Southwest airlines, which does not charge to check a bag. The $133 flight would have been with either American or United, and I would’ve had to pay at least an additional $30 to check a bag.
About a month ago, I told you about a dietary supplement that I had added to my routine: lion’s mane mushroom extract. Since that report, my off periods have been less frequent and more tolerable than before. Of course, Parkinson’s symptoms come and go as they please, and there are other potential factors involved. Time will tell whether this fungus is really helping, but right now it seems to be doing some good.
Today on ThrowBack Thursday, we pay a visit to where it all began (depending on how you define “it”, and “all”, and “began”). Gold was officially first discovered in what was to become Colorado in late 1858. These initial discoveries were (as is almost always the case) … Continue reading Black Hawk, Colorado (May & August 2012)
For this week’s ThrowBack Thursday, let’s have a Tupperware(TM) party! Let’s begin with the mostly forgotten wagon road over Union Pass. These days, if you want to get from Georgetown, Colorado to Empire, Colorado you hop onto I-70 then take the exit for US 40. In doing so, … Continue reading Today’s TBT (or is it DDT?)
A few weeks ago, I told you about a new spreadsheet I had created to help with taking inventory of meds in preparation for travel. It occurs to me that I should also share my packing list. But with the packing list, I have stayed decidedly old … Continue reading OLD Helpful Tool!
It’s that time of the week! Throwback Thursday – when I finally get around to sharing photos from past trips. This week, it’s a day trip on my 40th birthday, which I am disturbed to think is already more than a decade ago. For that birthday, I … Continue reading Bison and Gold Mines
Welcome to the final installment of my 2020 trip to Yellowstone National Park! ‘Tis now the morning of Day 6, and we find ourselves at Midway Geyser Basin. This basin has a comparatively small number of geothermal features, but they are good ones! And they … Continue reading Yellowstone 2020, part five
Long ago, I realized it would be a good idea to take an inventory of my meds about a week before each trip I take, to ensure I’ll have enough to last me through the trip. For a long time, I did all the math in my head. But the number of prescriptions keeps growing, and so does the number of places where I keep them. So, before my last trip (Vermont), I decided to build a spreadsheet to help me with this task. It occurred to me that I’m surely not the first person to do this, but I’m also surely not the last. So, in hopes that some o’ y’all may get some use out of this, I am making my creation freely available to download. Here’s a quick preview of the beast, which I call MedSpred:
Start by typing the names of all your medications and/or dietary supplements into the “Drug” column under the red section. If you need to add more lines for more meds, you should be able to add lines normally. The formulas should be entered automatically, so your new row should have zeroes in columns C, H, and I. Now, in Column B under the Red “Demand” section, enter the number of pills you take per day, for each medication / supplement.
Next go to Row 5, directly under the green bar, and enter a short name or description for each place where you keep a stash of meds. For example, I keep the bulk of my daytime meds in the kitchen, the bulk of my bedtime meds in my bedroom, a day or so worth of meds in a fanny pack I keep just inside my front door, and a two-day supply in my Aware In Care kit (which lives in the trunk of my car). If your meds are strewn across more than four locations, you may add more columns (again, the formulas should be updated automatically), but you should seriously consider consolidating.
Now the math fun begins! In the yellow cell (C2), enter the total of number days you need to have covered – including the days between now and your trip (e.g., if you will be leaving 7 days from now, on a 7-day trip, you would enter 14). Lo and/or behold, column C now shows how many total pills you will need for each medicine and/or supplement! Go now, if you will, to each of your med stashes. Enter the number of pills of each medicine at each cache. Unless you only have unopened bottles, this will require actual counting.
Once you have entered all of your information as described above, look at the purple-headed “Result” column. A negative number means you don’t have enough of that drug /supplement to last the whole trip. Contact your pharmacy / doctor immediately to make sure you can get the amount you need before you have to leave. If you get a result that’s at or near zero, you might want to contact your pharmacy / doctor while you’re away, to make sure your meds are waiting for you as soon as you get back.
In case it helps, here’s an example, showing my completed MedSpred for my last trip:
If you’ve gotten this far and think you want to give MedSpred a try, click here to see the available files.
Voyages with Parkinson's 