The following story appeared this month in the newsletter "Well Informed"
for our National Capital Area Chapter of the APDA.  I was especially moved
by this exceptional story, so I wanted to share it......
Perry Cohen

*******************************************************
What Good Is A Support Group?
By Lee & Janice Himes

If you're like me, or my wife, Janice, you may have wondered the same
thing. We're not the kind to go in for any of that "touchy-feely" stuff if
that's what it turned out to be.  Nor were we keen on getting tied up in
anything new, so hoping to find it would prove to be of no real benefit or
interest to us, we decided (after talking to Perry Cohen who leads the
Young Parkinson Group) to attend just once, at least, to check it out.
Little did we suspect at that time, that this would change the destinies of
both our lives... in just one visit. Or what a dramatic impact this small
reluctant decision would have on both our lives.

We attended our first meeting in June. We didn't know anyone there.  No one
there knew us.   We were completely unaware that it was meant for us to be
there that night.  After the program ended, Ben Bandy, a man on the
opposite side of the room, crossed over straight to Janice.   Why he
singled out my wife from amongst a room full of people that evening, we
didn't know.  He told us of a study being conducted by Dr. Stephen Reich at
Johns Hopkins that my wife, newly diagnosed with Parkinson's, might want to
consider participating in as a subject, and he gave us information about
who to contact and generally what it involved.

My wife dismissed the idea of participating in the study because it meant
driving all the way to Baltimore and back on several occasions for at least
two days of numerous medical tests.  She thought she had better things to
do. We were busy planning and preparing for a six month cruise to Florida
and the Bahamas on our sailboat.  A month passed.  We went to another
meeting of the support group.  Ben didn't attend that one.

In August I decided to cancel our cruise to the Bahamas, due to commitments
I had made concerning my work.  My very independent, very busy wife, had an
inspiration.... "Though it won't help me, it might help someone else,
someday, if they learn something from the study. Maybe I will call to see
what's required of me to participate."

The first test was a CAT scan of the brain.  It showed a massive brain
tumor in the center of her brain, intra-ventricular, located at the foramen
of Monro, (in the very center of her head)  threatening to cut off the flow
of the cerebral-spinal fluid within the brain.  It needed to be removed as
soon as could be scheduled.  My wife had not the slightest symptom to
indicate she had a large tumor in her brain.  We did not have a clue that
it was there. It turned out to be non-malignant and about the size of a
lemon.  After the 10-hour surgery, the surgeon remarked that it had grown
so extensively, that had it not been removed when it was, she would not
have had much time left before a major event (tragedy) would have occurred.

Janice is doing fine now. You would never know she'd had any surgery. To
look at her, you would never guess she has ever attended any kind of
"support group" for anything.  But you might not be looking at her now, or
reading this newsletter entry, had she not at least gone once just to check
it out.  As it turned out, we couldn't have afforded not to find the time
to attend. You never know when it just might just save your life.

When Janice and I review the events that have transpired, our faith tells
us that the Lord had to be guiding us all along the way.  What if the
support group had not been formed?  What if we had not talked to Perry
Cohen?  What if we had not gone to that first meeting?  What if Mr. Bandy
had not been there? What if he had not bothered to go to Janice and
describe Dr. Reich's study? What if we had gone on the cruise to Florida
and the Bahamas?  What if Janice had decided not to participate in the
study?  What if .....?

Thanks Ben.  Thanks for attending that night. Thanks for taking the
initiative and speaking to Janice about the work going on at Johns Hopkins.
 Thanks PD support group.  Don't know where we'd be today had you not been
there.

Janice's surgery was October 29th, 1997.  Janice and I attended the meeting
on December 18th.  An unsuspecting Ben was there this time.  It was only
our third time to attend.  I couldn't wait to tell all that had happened
since the last time we had seen these folks.  We wanted to say thank you to
them, and to Ben especially, for the difference they had made.  A big
difference to my wife, to me, our children, grandchildren, and extended
family and friends.  Within a minute or two of our having related this to
the group, Susan Hamburger hospitably produced a bottle of champagne and we
made a toast to the group, the extraordinary good that had come of its
formation, and the new year ahead.