Hello Fellow List Members,

I'd like to first of all thank you all for your posts, which I've been
reading over the past two days.  My name is Kathleen Lucas and I'm 39 years
old.  My Father, Rawley, age 73 has Parkinsons.  My grandfather on my Mom's
side had Parkinsons for 25 or 30 years before he passed away at age 80,
approximately ten years ago.

My father had resisted going to his physician to have his symptoms checked
out for about eight months.  I kept asking him about it and had many
conversations with him about why I felt he should get checked out.  My Mom
had noticed the same things and also expressed her concern.  Apparently he
didn't react well to her "nudging" him about it and my Mom asked me to
intervene.  He probably didn't enjoy my bothering him about it either, but,
since I don't live with him and I am his only daughter, I decided to keep
pushing him, figuring I could get away with it better, since I know I'm still
his favorite child (I have two brothers, one older and one younger than I
am).

When he went for his annual physical last summer, he told me that his doctor
had said that he did not have Parkinsons and that there was nothing to worry
about.  I called his doc about a month later and expressed my concerns about
what I saw as symptoms increasing in severity and frequency.  The doc said
that my Dad had never discussed it with him at all during his last visit.
 That made me feel a little more confident that the doc (I had recommended
him to my parents when their primary care physician retired about five years
ago) wasn't blind and less confident that my Dad would be amenable to seeking
help.

Finally, I convinced him that it was very important to me, even if it wasn't
important to him and he scheduled an appointment for the morning of Christmas
Eve because he knew I'd be in town for the  holidays and he wanted me to go
along with him to talk to his doc.  I was very surprized by this and welcomed
the invitation.  We both went to the doc's office where my Dad told the doc,
"This is show and tell day for me.  I'm going to show myself to you and my
daughter is going to tell you about her concerns."  The doc smiled and said
that was just fine.  He examined him and said that , yes, it was Parkinsons
and that he would like him to go to a neurologist for treatment.  He also
said that there were some promising new developments with meds.

My Dad was very surprised at the comment about progress with meds.  It turns
out he had talked to his chiropractor who had told him that if he did in fact
have Parkinsons, that there was no sense in going to an MD for it because
there was nothing that could be done to help the condition.  That was a major
AHA for me and explains, at least in part, Dad's reluctance in the past.

Dad still hasn't made an appointment with the neurologist and I ask him about
it about once a week.  My latest attempt was to give him the dates when I
knew I would be back in town and said that I'd love to go along with him if
that was OK with him.  He brightened a bit and said, "Oh, well, in that case
.........."  I'm hoping that means he'll make the appointment soon

I have mixed feelings about my interference with this personal part of his
life.  I don't want to be a pest and yet I still feel somehwat responsible to
make sure that he at least finds out more about the condition and what his
treatment options are.  I'm planning to bug him at least long enough to get
him into the neurologist's office, offer to go with him and provide emotional
support, and then if he balks at ongoing visits and/or treatment, I think I
should back off and not invade any further.  I would welcome your
thoughts/suggestions on this and would ask that you please be gentle with me
if you feel I've already invaded too much.  It hasn't been easy nagging him.
 He has quite a temper and can be a bit of a growly bear when someone
disagrees with him.

I mentioned my Grandfather earlier.  By the time my son, Peter was about five
or six years old, Grandpa's ability to get around was severely limited.  He'd
also been blind for about fifteen years by this time and had several strokes
and had regular TIA's.  Peter used to love to sit and listen to "Pop Pop's"
stories and jokes.  Peter was so proud to be able to hold my Grandfather's
hand to walk him to the bathroom or into another room or help him get seated
at the table.  I'm so glad that Peter got a chance to really get to know what
a wonderful, funny and adventurous man he was.

I'm hoping to get information about folks' experiences with the disease and
also about treatment options.  Thanks for letting me join you.

Kathleen Lucas
Lucas Circle Consulting
235 Roosevelt Ave.
York, PA  17404