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David, How long have you had PD? I can remember worrying about all of this for my dad. My dad has had pd since 39. He is now 55 and still working. When he first got PD me, my brother, and sister were still in school and wanted to go to college. That takes $$$$. Besides that, my dad was in the prime of his career. That has made it difficult to compete with colleagues. We were all very worried about the future and still are. My dad has managed to make it though. He completely paid for us to get through undergraduate school. My bro still has a year and a half to go. The best thing I can say is take it one day at a time and find a job that you like that will accommodate you. I know, easier said than done. He talks about retirement and we encourage him to continue working. Have you thought about finding a job that does not require as much hands on duties? My dad works for the Govt and his job is in policy. He has to read and type a lot. Now a days they are making a lot of concessions for people with disabilities to enable them to work as long as they want. My mom and dad have talked of moving in the future, but haven't yet. They still live in a townhouse with 2 steep flights of stairs. I was a little hesitant to write this, bc I feel that I really can't tell someone with PD what to do, since I don't have it myself. I guess, I am just giving it from my perspective. I'm sure that the people on the list with PD and their care givers will probably be able to give you much better advice. Jen -----Original Message----- From: David Willard [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 10:55 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: disability from PD I hope this is not too personal to share, but how many of you became disabled at an early age? I am trying to stay as positive as I can about this, yet as the person who's cg seems to be in denial, so was I for about a year. With no dx yet I still find myself saying Im just going to get over this. I wake up the next day to realize I still cant shave or brush my teeth with my right arm. I started to cope with the ridgedness,stiffness slow moving arm, fingers, and dragging right foot. I then began to have such a course tremor of my right hand I can't put cream cheese on a bagel for breakfast, and people stare at me in a check out line while trying to write a check. The stress of it all makes the symptoms worse. I left my job as a quality control technician because on occasions I couldn't hold a precision measuring device of any kind to perform my task. Write'ing became most difficult. (lots of documentation). Here is the problem. I can still do what I've always done. It just takes me a lot longer to do it. Staying caught up with this fast moving society is tuff. I feel like I need help. I dont want to go on disability at 36, yet I"m concerned about my family's needs being meet. All the talk of downsizing, moving, etc. I've been reading on the posts. This has been most helpful, and all to familiar. My wife have been discussing these things too. Thanks for sharing. Dave