Tonite I was watching the nightly news on TV when a segment was shown about
US Attorney General Janet Reno.   The segment was the grilling she's currently
taking from the Senate for an issue involving the president and the vice
president and the possibility of one or both of them doing - or not -
something illegal (simplifying 'cause this ISSUE isn't the point of my
message)

I noticed Ms. Reno, who was discovered to have Parkinson's after she'd been in
office for a couple of years, had a noticeable tremor in one hand.  She also
used  some of those standard "If I sit/stand like THIS, with my hands kinda
doing THAT, no one'll see that I've got this crummy disease."

You all know the positions I'm referring to.... They're the ones many of us
used to or still do assume to TRY and hide the assorted PD symptoms we have in
the hopes that no one'll notice 'em.   Since no one ever asks us why we're
standing there with our hand/foot/body twisted like a pretzel (Hey - if WE
don't look at it maybe THEY won't see it?) <deep sigh> (been there, done
that...) we continue to try to fool ourselves into believing no one ELSE sees
our PD symptoms.

I can remember the years when I went thru the "It has a name, but maybe if I
don't acknowledge it by that name, no one else will see that I have it" stage
of my "PD evolution."   I had kind of a "split mind" then - half my mind was
involved in whomever and whatever was going on around me and the other half
was caught up in trying to hide the PD symptoms and wondering if anyone else
was noticing 'em.  There WERE times back then when from HERE - today - I can
see where that type of "split mind" might have effected my ability to do my
job as well as it could have been done, had I not felt it necessary to devote
so much time to disguising my PD symptoms or waiting for the latest dose of
Sinemet to kick in.

Watching Attorney General Reno this evening REALLY caused me to try to picture
what SHE was thinking as she spoke - with her usual expressionless face -
before the Senate, and the millions of TV viewers.  I envisioned her mind
saying, "Dammit, I wish that old windbag would hurry up with that dribble he's
spewing out before I'm well into an "off" stage!"  Then there was the moment
when her hand curled up and clamped shut... WHAT was she thinking THEN???  "Oh
NOOO! ____________________<-- insert comment based upon your OWN personal
experiences in like situations>

I felt that Ms. Reno's mind was still very sharp, per her comments on the news
this evening but couldn't help wondering if such a stressful job as she has
isn't causing her PD to escalate more rapidly then it would under other
circumstances.

This is NOT a critique of how well or not Ms. Reno does her job.  Rather, it's
an observation about someone who's living with Parkinson's Disease.  These are
just some thoughts I had as I watched TV tonite and wanted to run 'em by the
List.

Barb Mallut
[log in to unmask]