Interpretation on the whole makes me smile. I love how people can use it to justify how they do things. Their way is correct and anything else is wrong. It might not be but that is how they see it. That’s why life is interesting. You and I can read the same thing and take it to mean different things. It opens the door to debate. I think it’s a good thing; a great way to learn.
Yet interpretation can be so extremely frustrating. When I was at school it was something a couple of my teachers drilled into me. One teacher said that my answer might not be correct according to the set answers but if you explain your interpretation of the question to back up how you got to your answer it can’t be marked as incorrect. That lesson has proved useful more than once.
Recently we had our first meeting with our specialist Parkinson’s consultant. This, it turned out, was a new clinic that was being set up so there were a few teething problems. Both the consultant and nurse were lovely. Both explaining that things may take a little longer while the system is getting up on it’s feet. Not a problem. Hiccups are to be expected with these things.
We go through all the back ground information and set the groundwork for his record. Then we start talking about medication. I will hold my hand up and say I expected to have the same conversation with the consultant as I’d had with the Parkinson’s nurse earlier in the week but I was pleasantly surprised.
She asked husband how he was getting on with the tablets. Had he experienced the nausea he had been warned about? Thankfully not but he mentioned the rigid times he had been given in the letter from our first appointment with the nurse and how it wasn’t fitting in with everyday life. The consultant listened to his concerns then smiled. That is a very exact interpretation of the use of the medication but there is wiggle room.
I am pretty sure we both let out a sigh of relief. You fit the medication into your life, you don’t change your life to fit the medication. The days you are starting earlier, if you feel you need an additional tablet at the end of the day, have one. You don’t have to eat exactly thirty minutes after taking your tablet just as long as it is after half an hour. If it’s an hour or more it’s not a problem.
The local nurse had given us her interpretation of the guidelines for getting the best from the medication. It was rigid and set in stone. The last discussion I had with her made me feel like it was this way or nothing. If you can’t change to fit the medication into your life there is no point you taking it. Wow I’m sure the employers of everyone who works while on this medication are going to be really accommodating to this regime… not!
The consultants interpretation was much more relaxed. This is the ideal set up but life isn’t ideal so we do the best we can to get the best from the tablets without tying your hands. You don’t need to get up as early at the weekends. As a rule of thumb you need to allow about four to five hours between each tablet. Thank you this we can work with. The nurse’s interpretation would have either seen me missing dinner four nights a week or looking for alternative employment. I think the diet would have won.
I suppose it goes to show that sometimes a second opinion or view point is beneficial. Life isn’t set in stone and interpretation should always allow for a little wiggle room. Ex