1. Let me be among the first to offer up another very large family (mine) to
genetic researchers. We can trace one line of our family back to the
American Revolution. We don't have a large number of family members with
Parkinson's (just me and a recently-diagnosed uncle and one great-aunt
[deceased]) but we do have a number of other neurological disorders such
as schizophrenia (my daughter) and cerebral palsy (my daughter [deceased])
and Bell's Palsy (my niece) and depression (my brother). So, here is
another huge family with arms at the ready to give blood samples. :)
2. Now to list stuff:
I have had requests/complaints about the size of some of the digests.
There are some ISP's that will not accept digests over 60K. I forwarded
that message to our listserv guru at University of Toronto and here, in
part, is his reply:
"It sounds like [listmember] needs to find a more reasonable ISP. 60K is
only about 750 lines of text. I can adjust the digest size down so that it
will come in under 60K. I'll set the digest level on Monday so that they
will be < 60K and will be sent out at midnight each day (for those who
want them). This can be a little tricky, so I'll need to hear from you if
I accidentally change the entire list to digest format. :-)"
3. Here is another message from UofT:
"Some of you have noticed improvements in the delivery time of Listserv[tm]
messages due to tuning done in the last few weeks. To further improve
performance Listserv[tm] is being moved to its own machine. The switch
over involves a two hour disruption. If things go according to plan there
should be no other difference. We are proposing to do this next Wednesday
at 11am Toronto time. Network Services, University of Toronto"
4. There have been some comments/complaints about people 'selling' stuff
on the list. This is strictly AGAINST policy. If you are in the
business of selling a product, do NOT use the Parkinsn list to do so.
This service is provided for the exchange of information about
Parkinson's and not to provide a captive audience for sales.
5. Now about the 'Great Humour Controversy'. Anyone who has been a
member of this list for any length of time knows that topics come and go
rather quickly. By the time anyone has become really aggravated about
it, it has died down. I enjoyed some of the humour and shared it with
family members and friends. Laughter is good for what ails you. But,
let's keep it reasonable. We don't want to overwhelm members who have to
pay for their internet access or who only have a limited amount of time
on the net. 'Professional caregivers' on the list may find the humour
messages trivial and timewasting but, I think it is important to remind
the professionals occasionally that we are real people with a wide range
of interests and skills and obligations, rather than just 'people with
Parkinson's. There is lot more to us than just Parkinson's. In
summary, I believe we can tolerate a moderate amount of non-PD messages
... the key word is 'moderate'.
6. Deprenyl. I have taken this drug since I was diagnosed in September,
92. Last spring, the neurologist cut the dose in half...from 2 a day. I
am scheduled to have minor surgery on Wednesday so have been off deprenyl
for almost three weeks now. As another list member explained it, 'my
on's are cleaner but my off's are deeper'. Has anyone else found this?
What happened when you went back on the drug. I had to start taking the
deprenyl very slowly so would assume I'll start back taking it the same way.
Barb
===========================================================================
Barbara Patterson [log in to unmask]
HSC 2J22 905-525-9140, ext. 22403
School of Nursing
===========================================================================
