Hi everyone,
 
        My name is Glenn Williams.  I have been lurking, reading the
digest form of this listserv for a few weeks.  I do not have Parkinson's,
but my father does.
 
        My father is 76 years old and has Parkinson's Disease.  We
believe he has had it for 10 years or so, but it was diagnosed around
7-8 years ago.
 
        At first, he drove the car more slowly.  Then it became so obvious
that he quit driving about 6 years ago.  He couldn't get the key into the
car door, much less drive with any kind of speed, so we convinced him it
was time to quit driving and retire at about 70 from work.
 
        Then over time he went from just needing assistance to get out of
bed, to basically holding him up in the last year.  In the last few
months, he walks bent over with even his knees bent all of the time.  He
often will start to fall to the side unless being held up.  It is so
exhausting that we just walk him for exercise and sometimes he is
wheeled in a wheelchair to the restroom sometimes.  He is definitely in a
wheelchair if we go shopping.  Kinda hard to hold someone up that doesn't
use his cane (even though he is holding it with his left hand) and shop
too.
 
        He can and often does sit in a regular chair, but seems to
always lean to the right, even while walking.  He is left-handed, by
the way.  His knee joints are always bent into a sitting position,
in spite of walking him around and laying down for a short nap once
a day.  He doesn't have much control over his continence, so he wears
those pads for that.
 
        During his "on" periods, he wants to do all sorts of things,
even some gardening (with help) and staying up to 10 p.m. or later,
about an hour and a half later than his usual bedtime.  He gets up
about 7:30 a.m., when our stirrings wake him up.
 
        He drools most of the day, causing quite a mess.  Sometimes it
carries over to the meal time also.  Whatever he has to eat will often
end up in drool during his "off" periods.  He almost stops eating and
sometimes doesn't eat half of his meal during some of his "off" periods.
One of my questions is this: "Is drooling normal?"  Please reply to
this question via the listserv list.  Strangely enough, during his
"on" periods, he eats and eats with no problem.
 
        He takes one full Sinemet CR 50-200 TABS (pinkish-gray color) 30
minutes before breakfast.  On the back of the tablet it says: 521
below the half of a tablet line.  With that, he takes one-half of
Sinemet 25-100 TABS (yellow color) with the number: 650 below the half
tablet line on the back.  In the evening, 30 minutes before the meal, he
takes one full Sinemet CR 50-200 TABS.  If someone can figure out the
milligrams dose of each from this information, let me know.
 
        He worked hard most of his life at hard labor.  He did lawn work
for part of his income and maintenance for the other part.  He was exposed
to lawn and cleaning chemicals.  I wonder if they help cause Parkinson's.
 
        He has slurred, mumbling speech.  At times, he only speaks in
breathy whispers.  He twitches his joints occasionally.  His hands often
shake.  At night, he will often call out in "nightmares."  During the
day, he sometimes leans all of the way to the right, his eyes will close
most of the way, his jaw drops open, and all of the fluid in his mouth
comes out.  Tired, perhaps?  He is very thin, his hair is thinning, and
the skin on the back of his hands are now collapsing around his veins
and bones.  He usually eats a full meal and he loves to eat fruit.
However, he doesn't really think he has had much to eat unless he has
meat and potatoes.  Most of this is becoming apparent in the last
couple of years.
 
        His memory is terrific.  He remembers things past and present
that others have long forgotten.  It is good to see him laugh and smile,
for he doesn't do it often.
 
        Well, that covers most of it.  I hope you don't mind a long message.
You can answer the various questions I had above.  Someone once told me
that Parkinson's was inherited, but I think I read somewhere that it isn't.
Thank goodness for that.  Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
                                        Glenn L. Williams
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