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Hello. I'de like to introduce myself to all of you. I found this list yesterday while looking around the World Wide Web for information on Parkinson's disease. My grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinson's 1 1/2 years ago. She never had the tremors which have been described and decided after 6 months to go off the medication she was prescribed since she had not noticed a change. I did not get too concerned before with what type of medication or what the symptoms of Parkinson's were. Well the fall and winter went by and I have noticed that she had a harder time getting around. However, she always blamed everything on her arthritis and its relation to the weather. Last Sunday, she fell in her kitchen. She made it to church and breakfast fine but by the next morning she wasn't able to get up much at all and called the ambulance. They gave her some pain pills and sent her home said she had pulled some ligaments and/or muscles. My mother stayed with her Monday evening and had thought she would be okay alone Tuesday night but ended up staying with her because she still wasn't well. By this time, she couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom on her own and they ended up having to call the ambulance by Wednesday afternoon. At this point, I looked into some sources about Parkinson's disease and found that she met pretty most of the symptoms listed in the stages except for the tremors. She has never had those. I discussed bringing back in the doctor who had diagnosed the Parkinson's as maybe the medicine may not have been helping her, but may have been maintaining where she was at which was a lot better than where she is now. So, I am trying to check out all available sources of information. Do people with Parkinson's generally have tremors or is it common not to have them? My grandmother broke her hip 10 years ago but got along fine after that operation. She lost the feeling in her right side a few years ago and gradually has lost most feeling in her left side also. She says that she can not really feel her legs and kind of shuffles her feet along by looking at them. Her cane is not sufficient for her right now and she requires her walker (at least since last week) but that seems to tire her out a lot as she has no upper body strength. Also, can anyone tell me whether the l-dopa medication would improve the conditions or just maintain where she was. It seems to me that she was probably at Stage 3 when she was diagnosed and now I would rate her at Stage 4 or 5. Of course, I am no doctor and will not know what he says until he sees her this week. Basically, I have great concern for her well-being as I don't want her to end up in a nursing home but I have a young family and don't think that my mother could care for her either. I am looking into what options are available and any topics of conversation. Sorry that I have rambled on for so long. I think that this list will be invaluable to me as I learn about the disease. Kim -- Kim Coy Physics Education Group Kansas State University (913)532-1612 (voice) 116 Cardwell Hall (913)532-7167 (fax) Manhattan, KS 66506-2601 [log in to unmask]