Table tennis

I went back to the Parkinsons table tennis club this week after a few weeks off because of eye surgery.

I was pleased that I could just hit the ping pong balls but I was very unsteady on my feet. I was also cautious of bending forward. Time will tell whether I improve. I really think I need to discuss things with my Parkinsons nurse. I just want to be safe and careful.

Exercise is important, moving around, keeping active. If I don’t my muscles will atrophy. I think I need physiotherapy. Wish me luck. I’m so tired I’m going to get a nap.

Ping pong

I took this photo after playing table tennis today. I’d popped this ping pong ball into my pocket and took it home by mistake. I haven’t been to the group for a few months after I was ill. I’m not sure if I’m fully recovered but decided to give it a go. I managed to play a bit but had to take breaks. Since I got home I’ve been really tired and I think I’m coming down with something. Ugh.

Movement

I’ve found through a bit of research that it’s important to keep moving if you have Parkinsons disease. So I wobble and shake my way along to the shops or to the pharmacy and back. Trying to get my slow steps in. I have looked at my movement counter but although I’m almost always getting a couple of thousand of steps in every day my heart rate barely registers!

What to do? Then someone from my surgery suggested a Parkinsons group that does table tennis (ping pong). I’d played this on the dining table at home as a young teenager and thought I’d have a go. My worker from the surgery came down to introduce me to the group a week ago. I needed that support because I find it hard to integrate with new people because of anxiety.

So..  I went, and found that I can hit a ping pong ball across a net! I was getting my feet tangled a bit and sort of felt rather static. But I could do it. I went back this week and I’m happy I can progress. I’m going to keep going. It’s only a fortnightly thing, but I hope it will be good for me. I ache in places I didn’t know I have though!

Cat and ball ⚽

Our cat loves this ball, it’s a ping-pong ball covered in a knitted stripy fabric.

Suddenly there will be a clatter and the cat, who takes the ball upstairs in her mouth, is chasing it downstairs, then into the kitchen or along the living room floor.

She bat’s it backwards and forwards between her front paws, or under the settee then pulls it back out with her claws. The game goes on for half an hour or so. In which time she will run up and down stairs several times. If she was a footballer she would be a premiership star!

Last night I started throwing the ball up stairs and then she chased it back down. Having cats are fun.