One Moment at a Time: Patience with Managing Medications

In this fast-paced, multi-tasking world which we live in, it is sometimes very hard to remember to live one moment at a time. As a care partner, I find myself losing my place as I balance multiple requests for my attention. I’m also a Reiki practitioner and part of my Reiki training is mindfulness meditation. A mindfulness meditation practice is about focusing your mind on the present moment.

Focusing on living in the present

I use my mindfulness practice to bring myself to present time, to reduce my reactionary nature and to focus on living in the present. My mindfulness practice helps me to take time for myself, to listen to my body and mind, and gives me a tool that I can access anytime, anywhere. It calms my mind and my emotions.

Managing the unpredictability of medications

Mindfulness comes in handy in my coping with the unpredictability of my husband’s Parkinson’s disease medications. Here are just a few examples of how these medications make things challenging for both of us:

• The medication simply wears off when we are trying to get from the restaurant to the car in the parking lot.
• My husband takes his medication on time during boxing class, but the next dose takes a long time to kick in.
• Due to a variety of factors, sometimes the first dose of the day takes twice as long to activate. This can cause a slow start to the day.

In these instances, I do my best to help him get where he wants to go. Sometimes this means giving him audible or visual cues, so he can intentionally put one foot in front of the other. I’ve been his running partner (because of festination) as he starts to jog towards his destination then act as a brake to get him to stop. I will wait with him and enjoy our surroundings as we sit and hope that the medication begins to work.

Stop, wait, and be patient

Mindfulness helps me to realize that in these moments I need to stop, wait, and be patient. I focus on what he needs. I do my best to make the most out of this circumstance. I find that in some of these moments, we see the most beautiful sunsets, flowers, and creatures. Being mindful brings me peace in slowing down the pace and being patient.

Once again, Parkinson’s has brought us both a gift – the gift of savoring the moment.