Willpower and the years 1997 and 1998

25th July 1997 at SGPGI:

On 25th July 1997, Dr. Pradhan on a trial, changed the main drug Sinemet 110 to LCD 125 which is an Indian version of Sinemet and the drug is responsible for sustained release. He also added one more drug Parlodel 2.5 which is a Dopamine Agonist. The sustained-release drug gave suddenly increased tremor in both the hands while coming from off position to on position and from on position to off position. So I changed the drug LCD 125 to Sinemet 110 myself.

24th November 1997 at SGPGI:

On 24th November 1997, the same prescription as of 16th May 1996 was repeated after my request, as LCD 125 did not suit her. So Dr. Pradhan changed LCD 125 to :

1. Sinemet. (110)  1-1-1/2, tab 
2. Pacitane 1-1/2 tab, 
3. Amantrel cap 1-1, with.
4. Vitamin cap BIO E & 5. cap ant oxide. 

This prescription was to be given for 6 months. Although from this prescription, she was able to do limited domestic housework in the off time, she had to adjust herself according to the on and off timings of the medication. Now by this time, it was clear to me that this was not a permanent solution to the disease.

On 1st July 1997

I was transferred from Lucknow to Siddhartha Nagar near the Nepal border. I tried to get my transfer canceled due to my wife's illness but the senior authority did not listen to my request.

Though only two years were left until my retirement and as per the rules I should not have been transferred but I accepted the challenge and joined the place. It was a new division where rejected staff from all the other divisions were posted. There were only two Sub Divisional Officers in place of four and they were all living in Gorakhpur. My peon and driver also used to come from Gorakhpur. There was no house allotted to me by the authority as no construction was made in the city except D.M. Residence and his new office which was also under construction.

There was no Neuro physician in the district hospital except physician Dr. A.K. Chourasia MD. I contacted him with the full history of my wife. He asked to continue the SGPGI treatment. Although there was some sleeping problem at Siddharth Nagar.

So, on 14th April 1998, he added tab Zolam 0.25 in the night along with the SGPGI prescription (10). I also tried treatment of acupuncture for six months but it gave no result.

In the meantime, my elder son Sameer got married on 06th October 1997 to Arpana, a B.Com. graduate from Ahmedabad (Gujrat) and daughter of a private service official.

Up until now, with the help of medicines, my wife was able to travel by train with my slight help. During our stay at Siddhartha Nagar, I visited many historical places along with my wife i.e. Piprahwa Stupa in Kapilvastu, Bharatbharti temple in Kapilvastu, Siddarth University Kapilvastu, and Lumbini Museum. Kapilvastu is the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha. We also visited a nearby Nepal village near the Badhni Railway station. Basically, with her strong willpower, she managed to travel to all the above places sometimes on foot with the help of minor adjustments to the medicines.

It was getting somewhat difficult to continue at Siddhartha Nagar due to my field duties so I requested the highest authorities for my transfer to the Lucknow office and with great effort on 31st May 1998, I was transferred to Lucknow. My retirement was also due and I retired from the Government service on 28th February 1999.

At AIIMS on 8th September 1998:

My family Dr. Vikram Mehta MD suggested showing my wife to AIIMS New Delhi as in AIIMS there is a separate department for Parkinson's disease headed by Dr. Madhuri Behari who was doing some research work on Parkinson's disease. My elder son Sameer took an appointment for 8th September 1998 and contacted Dr. Madhuri Behari who after checking said to my wife she had Parkinson's disease. Dr. wrote the same prescription except for a high dose of Sinemet CR 250,1/2-1/2 two times a day in place of Sinemet 110.

I asked the Doctor that a high dose of Sinemet was not tolerated by my wife as with the high dose she reacted with an extra tremor in her hand and leg with rigidity. She asked me to contact her on 12th September 1998 with the result of this combination. Three hours were also spent in filling out the previous history of my wife and her family (11).

On 12th September 1998, she changed Sinemet CR into Sinemet 125 i.e., Sinemet SR in a large dose of 1.5-1.5-1.5 along with Sinemet CR one time. She asked to continue the treatment of SGPGI Lucknow further. So, we had to return to Lucknow for the treatment.

29th May 1998 at SGPGI Lucknow:

New Indian drug Duodopa 125 was changed 1/2-1/2-1/2 three

times, the rest was the same.

Note: I am not a doctor, please consult a Neuro physician for diagnosis and treatment for Parkinson's, here I have narrated the journey of my wife's Parkinson's journey.