Dear Readers,
      The idea of seeking guidance from Health Care Providers {HCPs]
 via E-Mail, while no substitute for a hands on consultation, has a lot
 to say for itself......it's free,quick,as personal as you want it to be
 and it may prove real helpful to those of us who, for what ever reason,
 would like to seek an opinion from an "expert".The basic idea is to seek
 the advise of 10-12 or more HCPs who would make themselves available
 to respond to questions within the bounds of their skills. We will
 [Yes, I said we] gather in HCPs representing Occupational Therapy,
 Neurology,Social Work,Pediatrics,Activity Therapy,Child Care Specialists,
 an Insurance Company Case Manager,a lawyer or two[to help out with
 social security], and so forth.Typically the "experts" should not be
 List members so as not to disrupt the member's current freedom to
 "shoot from the hip",a valued position. However no one who is a nonPDer
 or caregiver but is a member of the List and dispenses wise advice,
 information and support should in any way feel threatned. People like
 John S. Walker,and Kathrynne Holdan are invaluable to us.
     I need two things from you. One, is any ideas you have about this
 proposal. Supportive would be nice but criticism will make me stronger.
 Two, I could use some help in recruiting this core of HCPs so if you
 know someone whom you believe would make a valuable contribution please
 have them get in touch with me or give me their particulars and I will
 contact them
      I do believe the idea is worth the effort. We are fortunate to have
 a fine Md who will make his time available in his area of expertise.
 His name  is Eric Metzler from Enfield,  Maine. Many of you may recognize
 him as an acquaintance of Ivan    Suzman, who handled Ivan's E-mail with the
 Digest last fall.  He has this to say about himself (a  brief bio):

 I was born in Saigon, VietNam in 1958. My parents were Mennonite
 missionaries there. We moved to Hong Kong in 1969, where I went to King
 George V school (British system) for 6 years. I went to college in Goshen,
 Indiana (a Mennonite-run school) and then to Medical School in Lexington,
 Kentucky, and Family Practice residency in Charleston, South Carolina.

 I was married to Carolyn Walburn there, then we moved to Tewksbury,
 Massachusetts in 1986. I did Family Practice with a lot of OB for the
 Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, serving a largely Hispanic
 "inner-city" patient population. We   decided to go to a rural northern
 New England locale, and I started a solo Family Practice with the support
 of Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln, Maine, in 1990. In 1994, I
 transferred my practice to a hospital subsidiary corporation and became
 a salaried employee of Cold Stream Health Care, which has now grown
 to 2 family doctors and 2 mid-level practitioners. My clinical practice
 includes abroad range of outpatient care, minor procedures, obstetrics,
 intensive care and emergency medicine.

 I am currently doing my 2-year turn as Chief of the Medical Staff (9 Active
 members) and I am on the Board of the Maine Health Alliance, a
 physician-hospital organization which includes 11 mostly-rural hospitals,
 for the purpose of managed care and IPA contracting.

 I hope this is helpful. As far as helping with the PD subscribers, I'd be
 more of a resource for non-PD questions--you'd need a neurologist for most
 PD questions. A neurologist who happens to have PD might be best!

 Eric W. Metzler
 Family doctor / husband and father / kiteflyer / kayakpaddler / homebrewer
 / men's group member / Quaker . . . .-
 Eric W. Metzler, M.D. / Family Physician
 [log in to unmask]
 Cold Stream Health Care
 W. Enfield, ME  04493-0460  USA
    THE PROCEDURE for contacting Dr.Metzler is to be in touch with him
 directly at his e-mail address. You may contact me at my above and below
 noted  e- mail address for any inquiries for Patricia Stebbins, our
 Physical Therapist. This arrangement is temporary pending Ms. Stebbins'
 establishing her own e-mail address.
     You will be asked to acknowledge a disclaimer that will read
 something like this:

       DISCLAIMER:  This is one practitioner's response to this question.  It's
no substitute for a face-to-face examination by a practitioner with whom
one has an ongoing health care practice relationship.

     Simply send off your inquiry and you will receive an answer in
a few days depending on the complexity of the inquiry.
     The Inquiry and the response is confidential. But if you believe the
subject matter would be of general interest to our members you might
consider sharing it either in an abridged or unabridge  format.

    In a few days I will share a blurb on Pat, Stebbins
    WHAT DO YOU THINK?
          GEORGE               2/7/97  7:36 AM

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                  AMAZING GRACE

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see