Young Parkinsons Ireland

Hello Members,

 A quick update on how things are going in YPI.

 On the positive side our zoom coffee meet-ups on Thursdays are flying along, we had a very good YPI conference during Parkinson’s awareness week, our private WhatsApp group and Facebook group are up and running and getting lots off attention from members, and we’ve had a very successful Walking Club outing in Sandymount recently (see photo above). On the not so positive side our book club has waded through two very underwhelming Books in the past two months – – –one of our members (ahem) got to page 31 of “Confederacy of Dunces” and decided life was much too short! There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of Marian Keyes and “Rachel’s Holiday”, but then again the bar is not too high at the moment. The Book Club have decided to expand into Cinema releases and Netflix movies. Join the bookclub Whatsapp group to find out more [https://chat.whatsapp.com/JnSNlnC3Zh6LA60vDpII3K]!

 As I mentioned we had a very successful and fun walk in early March in Sandymount, Dublin. There were about 15 people in attendance including Partners and our unofficial YPI branch mascot Lulu (Michael’s dog who stole the show). We walked along the walkway for a kilometre or so and then moved inland to Sandymount green where we enjoyed Coffee and chats in the brilliant Spring sunshine. 

On the 8th of May we will have the next YPI Walk and Coffee, this time in Trim (Co. Meath).

We will gather in the parking of the Trim Castle at 11:45. At 12:00 a Member of the Meath branch of Birdwatch Ireland (BWI)* will walk us around the castle moat (good for bird songs in May) and along the river to Bosca@Marcie’s** for a coffee. He will explain which birds live there and hopefully we will be able to see some of them. 

*The Meath branch of BWI is one of a network of local branches of Ireland’s largest environmental non-governmental organisation. They organize a range of events including field outings, and carry out conservation work to benefit birds. Meath branch of BWI focuses on different species and habitats each year. 2022 is designated as the year of the river bird.

**Bosca@Marcies is an outdoors horsebox serving coffee and snacks, besides one of the oldest pubs in Ireland, Marcie Regan’s. 

The path is mostly flat and is aprox. 2km each way.

 You can indicate attendance in the events space on the Facebook group (link below).

The other thing we’d like to kick off is drop-in meet-ups on a monthly basis in a central Dublin location—the working title is the “Last Tuesdays’ Sessions”. We will hold our first in the Westin Hotel, Westmoreland Street, on the last Tuesday of May (31st) at 7:30pm. click the following link to send an email to be kept informed.

In case you’re new to the YPI Branch please take a minute to check out some of the events and services below, that are available to our YPI Branch membership:

• PD Nurse Support – Thursdays 11am
• Whatsapp Group
• Facebook Group
• Coffee Morning – Thursdays 10am
• Book Club – Monthly on second Wednesday begins 9th at 8pm
• Walkers Club – Sunday 8th May Trim Castle & Boyne River saunter
• Golf
• Yoga. – Wednesdays at 7pm
• Breathing & Meditation – Thursdays 7pm
• Members Survey of Interests 
• Big Boot Camp Waiting List
• Sing Along Classes (All PAI) – Wednesdays @ 12 noon

You may be interested to know that fellow YPI member Jim Lehane, living in Dublin with a Cork accent, will be fundraising for PAI at the Cork Half-Marathon on June 5th. Here’s a message from Jim with a link to his iDonate page…

Hi All,

My name is Jim Lehane I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s on the 6^th of November 2021, the day after my 59^th birthday. We have found the services provided by the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland to be invaluable. As a result of this I along with my wife Ann, members of my family and friends are doing the Cork City Half Marathon in aid of the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland.

Please find the link to donate at this address:

idonate.ie/JimLehane

Many Thanks,

Jim

…and finally Izas has checked out some PD related books and has selected this one as her top pick for this month:

Parkinson’s Disease Top Tips to Optimize Function, by Lucille Leader and Dr Geoffrey Leader (2018) Pub: Denor Press c.€18 on Book Depository

The chapters include tips about the medication timing, interactions with food and nutrients, better nutrition, tips for improving movement problems,  sleep problems, intestinal and urological problems, stress management, intimacy, travel tips, and many others.  It also has a chapter with simple recipes.

Pros:  Very easy to read, with short chapters that can be read in a few minutes (and probably need to be read several times, because it is difficult to remember all the tricks).  The formatting makes it appealing and you can jump to the chapter of most interest to you.  The authors are Directors of the Parkinson’s Management Team, in London, UK. One is a Doctor, so the advice in the book is grounded  and has been verified.

Many of the tips coincide with what we hear in our support classes (from the PD Nurse, boot camp, nutritionist, mindfulness) with the advantage of getting them in writing, making them easier to remember.

Cons: There is no chapter referring to cognitive problems. Kindle version NOT available