I've been lurking here for  a couple of months or so and finally decided to
put in  an oar, so to speak.  I am 78, my wife  76  has had PD for about 20
years. The disease has progressed slowly but inexorably. She is not
completely incapacitated,  still does a lot of things around the house.  I
do almost all the cooking.  Having been a chemist for 42 yrs,  cooking in
the kitchen and
working in the laboratory I find  has much in common.
Cecily, my wife had a lumpectomy last fall , followed by 6 weeks of daily
x-ray.  Amazingly,  she is not depressed, never complains  and enjoys life,
such as it is.  Sings in the choir at church. Until about 15 years ago she
was the church organist and choir director.  Couldn't take the pressure.
She took an early retirement from work.  At the time that Sinemet CR became
available we were living in Massachusetts  and the  Neurologist  put her on
it. We moved back to  Lewiston NY  5 yrs ago  and went  to a neurologist
here. She was doing a lot of thrashing around.  Went to a different Dr. ,
then again to another .  He  took one look at her and said  " That is not
Parkinson's, that is  OVERMEDICATION. "   He said that her intake of
Sinemet was 2 1/2 times normal and  gradually cut back the dosage.  WHAT A
DIFFERENCE.
There are 3 neurologists that  should go back to school and start over, or
else be hung as far as I am concerned.
Lesson -- make sure that your neurologist is what he claims  and  is well
acquainted with Parkinson's disease and its treatment.
 Her present  medications are   Sinemet CR  50/200  2/day,  propanolol
3/day  ,  eldepryl    5mg  2/day,  Tamoxifen ( for cancer after surgery and
radiation ) and an occasional valium.
She loves to play cards. We have daily bout at cribbage. We play various
games with our grandchildren ages 9 and 11.  A friend made a card holder
for her and it worked so well made 2 more for the kids.  A piece of 2 X 4
about 15 inches long .
2 cuts made in the wide side  about 1 inch apart at an angle of about 25-30
degrees off the vertical and about 1 inch deep.  These are much better than
the circular plastic holders because they lay on the table and  there is no
problem holding them.  If those of you don't have a friend  with
wood-working equipment, try the local high school , many of them have
Industrial Arts departments with equipment to make these holders.
I love the humor here, we both get a kick out of the jokes and other humor.
 I save, then print off any interesting messages that I think she would  be
interested in.
Guess I've bored you enough.
Bye for now.
Love to all
Bob Anibal     [log in to unmask]