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Dear friends, Thank you for your support during the past two months. I am at home now, recovering from surgery on a large inguinal hernia, I meanwhile have problems in my tailbone (coccygeal) area. I have some pain , and although tired, I am grateful to be on the mend, at last. Briefly, I did not know that there was unauthorized use of my computer on either Feb. 25, or March 5. The sender, Mr. Ashley Lenartson, has been dismissed from working here. There is no Suzman Fund, and I did NOT ask him to ask you to money sent here--he made these things up . I wish I had had more control then, over who could enter and leave my home. I do now. My caregiver situation is better, in that I have been offered a source of funding for part of their paychecks. I have cut back to six good caregivers. To help me to recover, I have paid 24-hour coverage, or friends visiting, with few gaps, most days, and am much better than even two days ago. The State of Maine has not yet responded with a final decision about cutting my funded hours to 5 daily, or retaining 13/day. Meanwhile, my appeal preserves 13 hours, awaiting a decision. I was driven to my aunt and uncle's apartment on Feb. 23, in Providence, Rhode Island, which is 162 miles away. I was admitted to Miriam Hospital, on 2/24 , in Providence, transferred on 2/28 to Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket , RI. I was transported back to Maine on Friday , March 16th and admitted for abdominal surgery on Wed Mar 21, here at Maine Medical Center. I was sent home on Sunday, March 25. I was battling to get my medications at the correct times, and achieved control over them , along with accurate nighttime reminders, on March 23. By the end of my stay at Maine Medical, I was extremely grateful to have survived, and I cried with relief, when I was finally wheeled to the hospital doors and discharged. It is still snowing here, and the driveway has 9-foot high snowbanks. Winter is quite a terrible challenge. The Houston Area Parkinson Society golf competition was last autumn, and the call to me that I am its champion for Maine came on March 5th, while I was in the hospital. I have already been driven, carrying a copy of the award citation from Bob Martone and friends, to the local office of U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe . I mentioned the stem cell research that is so hopeful, and her Portland staff promised to convey this to Washington, DC. For next winter, there are friends in North Carolina and in Georgia who are talking to me about possible arrangements. Each one is a nurse. I am so grateful to all of you who have been able to assist me in various ways. I called my State Senator and Representative yesterday. Parkinson's Awareness Month begins tomorrow, and they will co-sponsor an Awareness Resolution in the Maine Capitol . Yours sincerely, Ivan Suzman 51/39/36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn