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Hi everyone! My name is Teresa and I am thirty-two years old and have PD. I am a new list member. I've had Parkinson's for thirteen years, and on January 30, 1996, I had a pallidotomy (which was very successful). My brother has also been diagnosed with PD, and even though I am younger, my disease is much more advanced. I will be very honest with you; the first several years of this disease almost killed me. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I had developed severe tremors, rigidity and balance problems and as things got worst - freezing. I couldn't hold down a job, in fact I completely stopped going out in public, I became very irritable, and my family was not being supportive. I sank into depression. In a period of 4 years, I tried to kill myself 5 times. It was during a time of deep dispair that I turned to God and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. My life has not been the same since. I stopped focusing on my resentment and started focusing on Jesus. I asked Him to help me understand who He is. I bought a Bible and read it over and over, until His words became my song. As I trusted in Christ for my day to day survival, things started happening: I found a neurologist who eventually made the right diagnosis and started me on Sinemet. I was able to start walking again without the aide of a walker. I attended college for two years and after a job became available at my uncle's company, I decided to leave college and join the ranks of working professionals. Soon thereafter, I was able to move out from my parents house into my own apartment. I met a wonderful man at work who I married a year later. He's been very supportive of me, as my Parkinson's continues to progress. But, the most beautiful thing over everything else is how Christ filled my heart with love. And though this disease continues to plague me, I know that my redeemer loves me and will never leave me, that when this life is over, I will certainly be with Him and there will be no more suffering. A lot of people go through this life with relative ease and good health yet they continue to reject Jesus and His promise of salvation - to me that would be a curse! "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18