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greetings to all listmembers from a long-time member (altho i have been so busy for the past few years that i have barely had time to scan thru the list): several things during the past few lists have caught my eye and made it hard to resist joining in the lively debates. 1) pd, women, menstruation periods, menopause and pregnancy-YES-there is indeed a correlation between a woman's monthly cycle and the effectiveness of her meds! if you would like to go to: http://www.parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com/parkmail/maillist.html and scroll down just a bit and type those words into the search engine i'm sure that you will find plenty of archived posts from women thru the years who can supply you with plenty of info to take to your neuro to prove your point. frankly, 11 years of complaints from one patient should have sent him scurrying to his books (if not his computer) to investigate the validity of such a connection. 2) hi jjjanie, dear! i'm am so happy that your DBS was & is successful. i have had the pleasure of meeting jjane in person and i am amazed & proud of what she does. but after meeting & getting to know people from all over the world and hearing their stories-it seems to me that for every successful, very invasive brain surgery (dbs, pallidotomy etc.-mine included) there is also a horror story to go along with it. From brain bleeds (like my 2nd Pallidotomy which now has me in a wheelchair), to infections, to loose connections, to misplaced connections or lesions, it seems to me that if pd were all that easy to live with-then why are so many of us turning to such drastic procedures to relieve the symptoms. i feel that we must demand from our researchers and drug makers, realistic treatment alternatives, before we allow ourselves to be drilled into and probed and used as experiments as they perfect their procedures. 3) i would like to applaud Katherine Holden and whomever in Florida are doing such great work getting those symposiums to happen. these are not just naturally occurring events, as we all know-they take time, planning and preparation. but if you would like to see events like these happen in your area, i can only encourage you to start the process rolling. in the Peoria, IL area, we are well into our plans for our 4th annual pd awareness weekend. we are expecting to surpass our record attendance last year of 50+ pwp's from all over the US & Canada. plans this year include a symposium presented by PLWP (People Living With Parkinson's) at the University of Illinois School of Medicine. this will be our 2nd year doing this and promises to be an enlightening, thought-provoking and inter-active lively discussion between research scientists, clinical neurologistists, doctors and PWP's. this will be held on Saturday morning, May 25th, at 9:30 am and the admission is free to any & all interested. that afternoon, we are planning a "parkie picnic and wedding reception" and on Sunday, May 26th, the Parkinson Alliance is presenting "Shake, Rattle & Roll" for PD. This will be a gentle 1 or 2 mile walk along the Peoria Riverfront starting at Le Vieux Carre (across the street from the downtown Post Office). walkers will be treated to speakers, (US Rep. Lane Evans is one), brunch buffet, t-shirt and entertainment apres le walk! the entry fee is $20 in a single contribution or in sponsors and we will have prizes (really good ones) for the person bringing in the most money in donations-in two age brackets plus drawings. if you would like more info on any or all of these events, please email me. 4) if you would like info on starting or planning one of these events in your area, please contact me. i thank you for your time and consideration!! -- Joan E. Blessington Snyder 50/11 <http://www.geocities.com/joanbsnyder> [log in to unmask]> "Hang tough...........no way through it but to do it." Chris-in-the-Morning (Northern Exposure) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn