I just could not believe the number of e-mail letters we got. Thank you
very much. So many good ideas and so much help. Some of you said I need to
give you more information so you can help even more, so I will try and
address all the issues.
My father is as I stated 75 and was diagnosed about 6 years ago as having
PD. We now know he was not diagnosed by a neurologist but by a general
practioner. At the time he has suffered what we though was a small stroke.
He had a slight tremor in his right hand and leg. Here is were our problems
start. My mother who ruled our familly with an iron fist keep all
information, as to my fathers illness and its progression, a secret and
told us, when we asked, that it was not our business. We therefore were in
the dark as to exactly how bad things were until her deat in Dec/96. She
died from chronic lung disease and knew she was dying for 3 years and never
told a sole. We now start as to the information we are sure of.
We live in southern Ontario, Canada. As of dec/96 my father tremors had
spread to both hands, legs and jaw. He walks in a slow shuffle and has some
back pain and is very stiff in the upper back and shoulder area. He carries
his head in a forward and down tilt and it is hard for him to look up.
At that time he was on levodopa/cabidopa {ENDO L/C 100/25} 3 TIMES A DAY
and selegiline HCI 5 mg [NOVO-SELEGILINE] 2 TIMES A DAY. He had just
started this in Nov/96 and before this only took the levodopa 3 times aday
before this.
In Jan/97 he started having daytime hallucinations although we believe he
may have had problems with nightmares before they now where even worst. He
would get up and look for people in the house and even find some from time
to time. He is an war veteran and spend 4 1/2 years in a Japanese POW camp
so some of the visions were really bad. The Doctor took him off the
selegiline in the Middle of Feb. and cut his levodopa to twice a day. The
problem not only continued but got worse. He fell on ice in Early March and
broke some ribs and when they gave him morphine in hospital he became wild
with paranoia. Everyone was plotting against him, the nurses, the doctors,
the other patients, and so he fled the hospital which caused a major scene.
He was allowed to stay at home and all seemed OK for about a week when he
fled his own house. Then the following week two more times ending in a foot
chase between him and a police officer, who is a freind of his, and a
struggle with his daughter who tryed to stop him frrom leaving the house.
His strength that night witnessed by several people was not that of a 75
year old PD person. He therefore ended up in a Physio-geriatric ward of a
local health centre. [OWEN SOUND REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE]
Since then they taken him off sinemet [the form of lepodopa they use] and
he has gotten very stiff. The halluccinations are not as wild [more small
little men and lots of childern] but they are just as many or more and his
paranoia is still there. As of today he has been put on selegiline but no
reports as to how he is doing.
Jack Savely Thanks for the net sites I'll check them all.
Lyn Coles We are now demanding he be taken to a neurologist.
Daphne Shaw Sorry I'm not much of a gentle bulldog, I'm more of the dam
mean grizzly bear right now and your advice works so far. I'm in his
records and in their faces.
Brian Collins Thanks for help
JUDE I am not alone, your letter told me this.
Thank you all
Peter Street
with Love for Sid Street my dad
