9. What? No spoonful of sugar?

In an effort to be proactive about the whole thing, I searched the internet for all that I could find on Parkinson’s Disease. I downloaded a checklist for determining whether the doctor / patient match was a good one, and charts for tracking the timing of my medications. …OK – it was one prescription – Mirapex – but I was to take it three times a day – and I had never been one who took pills. Besides, from everything I’d read, it would be important to track “on” and “off” periods to determine whether the meds and the dosing were working for me.

Someone who loves me dearly gave me a watch with multiple timers that would go off to remind me to take the drug, and I took the pills that had been prescribed. They made me burp. I felt nauseous. Sometimes it seemed that my own “spit” was too thick to swallow. I yawned often and deeply, and, at work, I fought against falling asleep at my desk.  I didn’t need to hear the beeps to tell me when it was time for more medicine; every time I began to feel better, the timer would go off!