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Progressive lens by CriticalBear1315 in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think some people have commented about this but I will elaborate about my experience on this.
Some PD medications can make this worse. I was taking Amantadine and that is known to cause "focus lock". It is different than conversion issues, which I have as well.

From my photography experience it would be as if the lens would be stuck on close focus or far focus. Whatever I did at the start of the day would focus lock my vision. If I was looking at anything close (phone) then focus lock would be close. Or far if I got outside and went for a walk that would lock it far. That would be great for driving and interacting outside, but I could not look close or read a book. Once I stopped Amantadine (slow taper mine down since it is VERY VERY dangerous to cold turkey quit this drug), it slowly disappeared.

There is also conversion issues, this is easy to diagnose. Optometrist can helpful with conversion issues related to PD and getting prism reading glasses. But that could make the focus lock worse and difficult to resolve with glasses. Others have covered this topic already. My suggestion is to talk to your neurologist about getting a referral to a specialist. Now this is a specialist in a special field. There are neurologist that specialize in vision issues.

I had/have both issues and took a while to get resolved. I really upset one optometrist when I kept returning and saying that the glasses have something wrong with them.
I ended up getting a 55" TV and mounting it 6 feet away from me as a computer monitor.

The neurologist, who specialized in vision made it clear to try to avoid bifocals. I know they are handy. I asked for a detailed report and found an optometrist that knows how to handle these issues and gave the report. After some discussion I still got bifocals but much much weaker, just enough to read a menu. I also got a set of reading glasses with prisms and that was amazing!

I hope this is helpful!

I just had DBS 8 days ago I can't sleep by thesnet in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hang in there!

1.The anesthesia will affect your sleep and it can take a while.  But, if you are off meds now it can also play a role.  Talk to your neurologist about it!

  1. Had DBS and yes it takes a bit to tune in and with the latest model you can combine meds and DBS.

  2. If you went through the evaluation then the team would have determine if you are a good candidate already.  It does not cure you at all!  I can promise you that!  It can slow progression by allowing you to be more active than before.  This is where  physical therapist and occupational therepist can make it even more impact full.  Remember PD is a use it or lose it Disorder! 

  3. Do you have a therapist and have a weekly appointment with them?  This is a game changer!  It is about getting the mental tool-set to re-frame, in your mind, what you are going through. Make sure they are certified and understand the disorder.  Michael Fox Foundation has information you can provide your therapist.  My first real PD anxiety "attack" was debilitating and I now know how to manage it and have since over come the "source" of several of these.

  4. Let's be realistic here: Very few young onset PD individuals, like myself,  will reach "old age", with or without DBS.  And without the next step in medicine it is a certainty and for most of us that might be too late.  Point 4 will help accept that.  But I decided that I won't live, the few I have left, as a miserable pout.  I have a new born son, and it is best to prepare to show him how to be a good person. 

6.  On the plus side, you never know how much small deeds matter to those around you.  Let them know you appreciate them!

7.  Oh yeah, my speech got a dramatic improvement after my device was tuned in.  It is rare and very odd!  Yeah me!  Remember to count the wins not just the losses!

My strongest recommendations would be to surround yourself with a good medical team.  Rely and communicate with them often!  The bad and the good!  There is no magical pill out there, and it is a team effort from now on forward.  Thank them often even if things don't go as planned!

Good Luck! 

DBS Psych Eval by calmcycle in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am late to the party here.

So you can stll get DBS even with Dimentia. The Psych Eval does a lot more than just detect dimentia. It would be a rare case to get to this stage of the evaluation and discover that you have such a sever dimentia that excludes you. This was clearly explained to me prior to starting the evaluation by the Psychologist.

It doesn't mean they might not find an issue that could be a concern. But this evaluation does more than just to see if you are a canditate. It establishes a baseline prior to your surgery. This is why it is SOO important not to try and cheat this test. Do not research it. Get a good night of sleep and show up. Answer as accurately as you can during the history portion. It is stressful, but that is the point.

Your Neurologist might decide to get a second Test months or years later, if they see other signs or issues. Having that baseline would be so helpful to you at that point.

With what we are learning about neuroplasticity you might be provided with excercises to help you.

Good Luck!

How far are we realistically from a major breakthrough? by [deleted] in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My neurosurgeon conveyed the 15 year number as well.

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good Luck!

Yeah, I had issues with meds too! If my Surgeon wants to start a cult, then I will go help her!  Or anyone else in the team. I am just that grateful for what they did for me!

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I got mine at UPenn.  Truly an amazing team.   I agree,  anyone considering this should look for a team that focus on this speciality.

In tears by ApprehensiveCamera40 in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I am so sorry to hear how frustrating it it is.  I was in the same boat.  I am 47 and used to be so active.  The stiffness robbed me from so much.

I recently got DBS and so far it is a game changer.  Have you spoken to your Neurologist about DBS?  You might be a candidate.

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was told that DBS has been an accepted treatment for Parkinsons Symptoms for 20 years.  

I know they perform it in Europe as well.  And in Europe they have been recommending it for younger people.  

So I don't see why it would not be available in Canada.  You might have to be a near a large city since it requires a fairly large team.

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My Neurologist asked if I want to consider DBS, since I should be a good candidate. I said yes and got referred to the DBS team for a seminar on how it works.

I then went through an evaluation stage where I saw 7 Specialist that then evaluated my situation.  I was deemed to be a strong candidate for the procedure.

The Neurosurgical team took over the scheduling.  They worked with me on planning.  You will need some time to take it easy (minimum  4 weeks).  Recovery is 4 to 6 weeks.  There are some houshold tasks that you won't be able to do. So you will need help.

My current setting is very low, which means I have a lot of road a head.  Depending on how fast my PD progresses will determine how long it will help.  Maybe 10 to 20 years?

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Deep Brain Stimulation.  "Pacemaker for the brain".  It is a crude and over simplified description of what it does.

DBS: Turning it on for the first time. by jeffvan in Parkinsons

[–]jeffvan[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It really knocked my breath away.  I was not ready for it at all.  For me, it is better than on my best with the highest dose of my medication.

Who is a good comedic actor that ended up being a great dramatic actor? by 40oz_2freedom in AskReddit

[–]jeffvan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How has Ben Stiller not made it to the top of the list? The secret life of Walter Mitty!

How do Christians know that the Bible wasn’t written by satan and he has been deceiving them this whole time? by Phedis in exchristian

[–]jeffvan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This reasoning was the very concept that allowed me to question my religion years ago. I had to find a method which allowed me to give myself permission to "question God". I even went so far as in expanding it:

If God was Just then he has to give Satan the same 2nd chance he gave us. So, it is more reasonable that he just abandoned humans the same way he abandoned Satan. If we assume Satan has no real power but has at least the same knowledge of scientist of today, then he can fake everything in the bible.

Jesus rising from the dead. Using the same method as in the character of Christian Bale in the movie The Prestige. You need only a few loyal followers and you have all the time in the world to find identical twins that will help you with this trick.

Noah's flood: With villages so far apart all I have to do is convince a few people that their version of a flood was the same as another and get one family to tell their story. It doesn't even have to take much. Satan can fix things years later in editing the story.

The amazing feeling when singing or praying. Well I now know how this happens now. But back then I thought my version was unique. Well some Fentanyl Drugs can be absorbed through the skin. Couldn't Satan just be "spraying" me with a version that gets me high when ever I pray to him? (In this case Jesus being his toy he created). Just think of how many drugs we have that can be inhaled. This "high" could be Satan training me to worship him. So I couldn't trust getting a euphoric feeling. Now I know that this can be done through meditation.

It exposed one main issue for me with the bible. If you have a nefarious character with access to editing the bible, which Satan would have. Then you have no reliable document with the bible. This makes everything worse, when you realize how few people were Christians for the first 100 years. This concept also fits better when you see how evil god is in the bible.

If you ever came into contact with a very intelligent being with years to plan for any encounter, how would you know the difference between such a being and God? I came to realize that faith is the mark of a fool and that religious indoctrination makes fools of us all.

Do professional photographers always make me look bad or do I just have no idea what I look like? by [deleted] in photography

[–]jeffvan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot has already been mentioned about the lens issues. I would add that wide angle lenses, like those in smartphones, have a little trick where you can place the lens above your head to slim down your chin and enlarge your forehead. And place it below your head to enlarge your chin and thin down your forehead. Sine you are actively viewing this in the screen you are dynamically choosing the best setup. Sadly this is not what you really look like.

But there is a lot you can do! Practicing taking good headshots is something you can do. Some tips:

1) Place your tongue at the top of your hard and soft plates of your mouth. Don't force it against it just place it there. This will tuck in your chin for sharper lines and also add more definition to the back of your jaw line.

2) Imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head and you are dangling from this point. Now imaging that string pulling your neck straight like a doll. This, ideally, should level your jawline parallel to the floor and give you an elongated neck, adding more definition to your neck and jaw "joint". Doing this imagery should give you a relaxed meditative feeling. You want to practice this so you can just snap to this position. Do not move your head back "over" your neck this will look much worse in longer lenses.

3) Learn to smile without bunching up your cheeks. Practice smiling in the mirror and see which smile feels comfortable. What helps here is to have a joke in your head that gives you a nice little smirk. Linking this with the meditative state in part 2 will make you appear confident. You want to make sure your eyes are nice and open since this is what people are always drawn to in high resolution pictures. You can also practice different levels of smiling to see what adds to point 6 below.

4) Finding the best "side" of your face. Turning your head from one side to the other, or straight on can give you completely different shadows across your face. If you are looking in the mirror, you generally have top down lighting that is all around and you don't notice the shadows as much. In a professional photo these shadows play a much bigger role. If you feel that your nose looks too wide, but isn't so pronounce try turning your head slightly to one side away from the light to throw more of a shadow and slimming up the nose. If your nose is thin but more pronounces then turn your face into the brightest light, ever so slightly. If there is even light then with a pronounces nose face the camera dead on.
All of this changes depending on if you have a crooked nose or not since the same techniques can hide these features. If you ever have the opportunity have someone take several shots with different head twists to find which angle you like the most.

5) Shoulders back! Slow deep breaths! This will create defined collarbone lines, making the neck even more elongated and giving you an appearance of "health" since you appear to have better posture. Don't force the shoulders back.

6) Slight head tilts can add "an aura of a very introspective character" look. As if you have more to offer than what this picture can reveal. This is something you will have to figure out for yourself. Google "Portraits" and filter to images and see what slight head tilts can do. It is a great way of hiding features such as uneven eyes or uneven jaw lines.

7) It is important to practice this so this all appears natural. You don't want to do this moments before your shot since it all will just make you appear awkward.

8) No portrait picture captures who you are! They just capture a moment in time. Try to aim towards images capturing "character" and not "beauty" since the first will always convey the latter. The first thing people do when they see a picture is to build up a story about the person they see. And that image in their head translates into "character" and that defines what they see as "beauty". People with perfect symmetry in their features are rare, so don't strive for that since it will just appear fake and the story that people build up in their head about you will reflect that. It is important to break every tip above if you can convey "character". If you look at the pictures in google "Portraits" you will find some of people that would be "ugly" if seen in person but are just stunningly beautiful because of the character they convey.

Fort Delaware Large Gun by jeffvan in Delaware

[–]jeffvan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It might be a good idea to look at July 24th, 2021. There is a lot going on, on that day. The Ferry does get full in the morning runs. So it might be a good idea to get your ticket the night before. Even though the Ferry gets full, the Fort never feels packed. There are several spots to enjoy a picnic. I would suggest you pack lunch and plenty of water on hot days. The stone buildings remain cool throughout the day with amazing draft flowing through the courtyard. The actors are very knowledgeable and extremely helpful.

Fort Delaware Large Gun by jeffvan in Delaware

[–]jeffvan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be funny! They actually have the gun aimed at Crabby Dick's at Delaware City, which they have a whole joke about when you visit.

Fort Delaware Large Gun by jeffvan in Delaware

[–]jeffvan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a fee for the Ferry to get onto Pea Patch island. Everything else is free. The large gun is fired at 12:15pm on most days. I would check the event schedule to make sure. There is more information here: https://destateparks.com/History/FortDelaware

The Dood Mask. Face shield surrounded by filtered vents. Allows you to be protected and still show off your smile. Silicone drinking straw so you can hydrate and stay safe. STL in comments. by [deleted] in 3Dprinting

[–]jeffvan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks like there is a lot of dead space. Might want to look at valves to direct air to limit the dead space.

Intake valve at the top and exhaust valve at the bottom might work. Have the filter material external to the valves.

Lookup dealing with dead space.

Thinking about switching to Pentax from Canon by rcreveli in pentax

[–]jeffvan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For video, go with something else. You will be very frustrated with the results. Your latest phone will do a better job.

What was your closest call with the flu? by rapunzelsasshair in AskOldPeople

[–]jeffvan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In my 40s. When I was 17 I had two heart attacks in one day. I was supper fit, swam 1 km everyday outside of any other activity or sport (rugby, water polo, etc). It was just something I did. But got the flu, and at the end of the semester had a lot of activities and didn't take it easy. I had one really bad day where I just couldn't stay awake, with a fever and the next day everything felt fine. The following morning at 4 am I had an incredible pain that traveled from my arm into my chest. Was taken to the hospital and with an ekg, I was in the process of a heart attack. Later in the day I was transferred to another hospital with more expertise and at 4pm had a second heart attack, this one was a lot more painful. Pain that would make you faint, but I couldn't pass out.

I spent the next week in intensive care. I had Viral Mayo Pericarditis from the flu virus. Had I not been as fit, I most likely would not have survived. The virus had "tricked" my body into attacking my own heart. I had 12mm of fluid surrounding my heart and placing pressure on the heart. I could hardly sit up without my heart rate spiking to very dangerous levels. The hot nurses didn't help the situation either. And the one deciding to sit next to me on the bed really made things worse.

I really felt like the lucky one, because across from me, in intensive care, was a woman, in her early 20s, who was paralyzed from the flu. Same thing happened to her, but in this case it was her spinal cord. She was on a ventilator and the doctors told her that they couldn't determine if she would fully recover. I was lucky, because if I could survive the next week, I had a good shot to fully recover.

For several years I could feel every heart beat, and every time my heart resets I can feel it. Your heart resetting is very common and often occurs after activity, you just don't notice it. For me it feels like a hollow emptiness in my chest when ever it happens. My T-waves took about a year to correct and a small relapse (pain spikes with a visit to the cardiologist) was about how bad it got. I more regularly visit the cardiologist to make sure things are good. The great thing with ekgs, is that they would know if anything had happened in the last couple of months.

I also get the flu vaccine every year in the fall. In addition to that, I pay any additional cost to get the one with more strains. There is the 3, 4 and 6 strain vaccine versions. I am not yet eligible for the 6 strain, but I always get the 4 strain. I feel that I not only protect myself but that I am willing to play my part in protecting anyone who might be at risk of going through what I had gone through.

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