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Hi Everybody! Boy, I'm glad I found this list!! It's gonna be great to have other PD patients and family members to talk with. First lemme introduce myself. I'm Gail Rogers, 33, married with 3 marvalous boys (9, 5 & 3 yrs.) I have 4 older brothers, 3 of whom have built houses along with me and my husband on my parent's land here in Lexington, South Carolina so we're all here together which is so nice! My mother was diagnosed with PD about 6-7 years ago. So far, her symptoms are tremors in her left hand and foot, difficulty getting from a sitting position to a standing position, voice softening (not sure if that is PD related or not) and just general slowness. Her neurologist seems to think she's doing remarkably well. I'm just basically scared myself. Not sure what to expect and afraid to read up too much on the disease. January of this year, my mother woke up to chest pains. She has no history of heart trouble. My dad called the ambulance and they took her to the hospital where she was stabalized. They scheduled a catherization for the following morning. Then that night about 9:00, the hospital called and told us she had taken a turn for the worst and we should get there ASAP. She had had a massive heart attack and had to be shocked 3 times to revive her. She was on a respirator from 9:00 Sunday night until 3:00 Monday afternoon completely unconscious. The doctors originally thought it was a stroke but after she regained consciousness they did a blood test and determined it was a heart attack. The catherization was done about 3 days afterwards and it showed 3 main arteries almost completely blocked. They decided to do a triple bypass but wanted to hold off until she could gain her strength. She wasn't able to get up and walk to the bathroom without assistance for 2 weeks. They finally let her come home and she's been doing okay. She goes to the surgeon tomorrow and he'll most likely schedule her triple bypass then. Excuse me for rambling but I wanted to let you know a little about my situation. If there is anyone who is in a similar situation as mine with a parent with PD, PLEASE feel free to e-mail me. I'm having a real difficult time dealing with the PD and now the heart trouble too. I've got a strong shoulder and am willing to be there for anyone who wants to just talk or cry. I'm really excited about being on this list and hope that I can gain some insight into PD. Thanks for listening! Gail Rogers [log in to unmask]