Grace, they don't casll this the "snowflake disease" for nuthing! I t
has to do, I suspect with every person's brain chemestry being
different...therefore we all get PD at different times in our lives,
with all sorts of varying symptoms and each react to meds in a different
way. I think that you hit the nail on the head when you asked how can
they be sure that it's PD? Well, sometimes they can't. I have a
grilfriend who was dxed as mentally incompetent for insisting that
there was something wrong with her-despite drs. being unable t o come up
w/ any reasons for her. She ended up on the psych ward of a local
hospital, doped beyond belief until someone came up, quite by accident,
with the correct dxes. That is one of the reason's why we must be
visible and vocal about our disease-to let our friends and family and
the lady in the framing store and the idiot (who like I used to) will
stand behind me in the check out lane, rolling his eyes and tapdancing
while I'm trying to write a check and get the money back into my
pockedt-no time to recount the change. I look at him with one of my
practiced grins and say: "You know, I used to hate people like me
...until I became one. You'd better be careful because God sure has a
sense of humour when it comes to teaching us lessons!!!" Correct me, if
I'm wrong (which I have beem known to be), but isn't PD like
Alzeheimer's? There is no one certain test for PD, I think that it's
more of a process of elimination and waitng until thed symptoms more
fully manifest themselves so that a diagnosis can be made more surely.
Another way they use is your reaction to simemet. If it works-you can be
pretty sure you got it. I took sinenmet for a year and a half
beforefinally going to Mayo to be dxed. No surprise there-I figured that
if it walked like PD & it quacked like PD then it must be PD! I hope
this letter doesdn't confuse you all the more as I have been known to do
that also!! Best of luck in
your journey forward, Joan
--
Joan E. Snyder 48/10
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"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful."
Annette Funicello
