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hi , I have been off list for a few weeks and now I am back, I would like to welcome you to a great bunch of people. My name is Audrey, *seattle one*, and am a friend of a pwp who lives in Australia.. I am not claiming to know how it feels to be so close to someone who has this condition and to love them too, but I do know how it feels to be on the outside looking in unable to help more than to be there and to feel completely helpless and afraid for another person. I know that all on this list will be special sources of help and shoulders to lean on if bad days come for you and your wife. You have found the right medical information and now you have support here :) I wish you well .. *seattle* audrey friend of pwp john 48/38/35?? ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack and Jean Corzine <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 12:29 PM Subject: Introduction > Hello, > My wife has recently been to a local neurologist who specializes in muscle > disease and motion disorders. This is after going to a regular neurologist > for almost a month for what we had originally thought of as being > stress-related tremors to her right arm. The original dr. (we'll call him > Dr. A) prescribed Xanax at 0.25 mg three times a day for two weeks. After > only 3 doses we called the dr. on call for side effects consisting of > increased tremors, severe depression and chest pain. We were advised to take > her off of the Xanax and to take her to the emergency room for the chest > pains (the ER found nothing wrong with her heart). After taking her off of > the Xanax she returned to having just her right arm tremors. We saw Dr. A > and he set up a EMG for the following Friday to rule out a pinched nerve or > any other nerve damage (Jean had already had a MRI of the head and a EEG > along with 4 blood tests). The EMG showed normal function and Dr. A > prescribed Zoloft at 50 mg once per day for two weeks. He told us that there > were little to be concerned about with side effects and the drug would take > up to two weeks to show results. > > The very next night (after two doses) we were at a hockey game when Jean > started complaining about increased tremors in her right arm, muscle > contractions in her right leg and tremors in her right leg as well. We left > the game early to take her back into the ER where the E.R. Dr. called the > dr. on call for Dr. A's neurology group. Jean was prescribed Skelaxin 800 > mg. for relaxing the muscles. I took her back to see Dr. A the following > Monday (two days after the leg problems manifested. Dr. A saw us for about > 10 minutes (charged us $80 U.S.) and basically told us that we were not > giving the medicine time to take effect, that he thought it was just stress > (even though we had de-stressed our life as much as is possible) and that > he had no further answers for us. He did say that he would refer us to the > Dr. in Peoria for his recommendations (we will call him Dr. B for now). We > got our records from Dr. A only to find out that the majority of the history > that we had told him had been transcribed incorrectly. > > We went to Dr. B one week after seeing Dr. A for the last time. Dr. B did a > fairly thorough exam of Jean's arm and leg (Dr. A did not even exam Jean's > leg but felt that it was only "stress"). During the exam by Dr. B, he noted > stiffness and slowness in the leg and arm muscles on the right side of the > body as well as the tremors. He listened to us while we discussed different > aspects of this affliction and made the decision that he thought that it was > Parkinson's Disease. He has prescribed Symmetrel 100 mg. twice a day. Jean > has also mentioned a couple of instances of tremors to the head area but > they have not re-manifested since two instances last week. The symmetrel has > reduced the tremors to a more manageable state but she still has some > difficulty with walking (her right leg still "drags" and is slower to > maneuver). Dr. B has also mentioned having a PET scan done to see the > dopamine levels in the brain cells. We are curious as to exactly what the > PET scan is and whether or not it is actually useful for diagnosis. If > anyone has some expertise or experience in the PET scan we would appreciate > any information on it. > > My wife has just given me permission to mention her age so here goes.... she > is 32 and the mother of three currently (we have two of our own children and > one foster son). She is adopted so we do not have much in the way of family > history. We do have contact with her birth mother but have had no luck with > contact with her natural father. As far as we know there is no history of PD > in her family. I'm not real sure what else is relevant but I'm sure you will > let me know if I have left anything out. Thanks for listening. > > > > Jack and Jean Corzine > www.geocities.com/~fosterparents > Herp enthusiasts > Foster Parents > Proud mom and dad >