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I've been lurking here for a couple of months or so and finally decided to put in an oar, so to speak. I am 78, my wife 76 has had PD for about 20 years. The disease has progressed slowly but inexorably. She is not completely incapacitated, still does a lot of things around the house. I do almost all the cooking. Having been a chemist for 42 yrs, cooking in the kitchen and working in the laboratory I find has much in common. Cecily, my wife had a lumpectomy last fall , followed by 6 weeks of daily x-ray. Amazingly, she is not depressed, never complains and enjoys life, such as it is. Sings in the choir at church. Until about 15 years ago she was the church organist and choir director. Couldn't take the pressure. She took an early retirement from work. At the time that Sinemet CR became available we were living in Massachusetts and the Neurologist put her on it. We moved back to Lewiston NY 5 yrs ago and went to a neurologist here. She was doing a lot of thrashing around. Went to a different Dr. , then again to another . He took one look at her and said " That is not Parkinson's, that is OVERMEDICATION. " He said that her intake of Sinemet was 2 1/2 times normal and gradually cut back the dosage. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. There are 3 neurologists that should go back to school and start over, or else be hung as far as I am concerned. Lesson -- make sure that your neurologist is what he claims and is well acquainted with Parkinson's disease and its treatment. Her present medications are Sinemet CR 50/200 2/day, propanolol 3/day , eldepryl 5mg 2/day, Tamoxifen ( for cancer after surgery and radiation ) and an occasional valium. She loves to play cards. We have daily bout at cribbage. We play various games with our grandchildren ages 9 and 11. A friend made a card holder for her and it worked so well made 2 more for the kids. A piece of 2 X 4 about 15 inches long . 2 cuts made in the wide side about 1 inch apart at an angle of about 25-30 degrees off the vertical and about 1 inch deep. These are much better than the circular plastic holders because they lay on the table and there is no problem holding them. If those of you don't have a friend with wood-working equipment, try the local high school , many of them have Industrial Arts departments with equipment to make these holders. I love the humor here, we both get a kick out of the jokes and other humor. I save, then print off any interesting messages that I think she would be interested in. Guess I've bored you enough. Bye for now. Love to all Bob Anibal [log in to unmask]