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I have been lurking on this list for several days now and would like to introduce myself. My name is John Marcy; I am 28 and live in Naples, Florida. My father, age 58, lives in South Bend, Indiana, and was diagnosed with PD in 1985. About two months ago he began to hallucinate constantly and to show signs of paranoia, seeing conspiracies everywhere, etc. He spent a week in the hospital for a drug holiday, as suggested by his doctor, and shortly afterwards had to be rehospitalized because of dehydration due to difficulty swallowing. Except for a few days in a therapy center just after the drug holiday, he has been in the hospital for a month now, having had a feeding tube put in. He is now on the verge of returning to the therapy center. These recent events have made me want to learn more about PD. Although it has been ten years since my father was diagnosed, until now his situation seemed relatively stable; it seemed to me as though the disease had reached a plateau and that he was not getting any worse. At times it has been easy not to think about his condition, especially as I live quite far from my parents. The last months have jolted me into realizing how trying the last years have been for both of them. I have realized that on the whole I know very little about Parkinson's. I am very glad to have found this list and other online resources about PD, in addition to books on the subject. One question about the postings I have read the last few days: Could someone please describe the Udall legislation which has been talked about so much? I take it that it concerns funding for PD? Perhaps someone could reply briefly by E-mail, as I am sure that most list subscribers already know about this. Thank you! John Marcy ([log in to unmask])