I'm writing on behalf of my Dad again. First of all, you should get to know
him - he's a remarkable guy. Dad ("Don", for the rest of you - 65/10) was
diagnosed in '85 and left carpentry on disability a few years later because
of the danger of tripping or falling on the job. Soon after that he began
making 18' cedar-strip canoes in the garage, and didn't stop until he made
six of them - one for each one of us kids and one for Mom (Pauline) and
himself. By the time he was done the floor of the garage had a glossy
covering of dried glue. The joke in the family is that with all that
shaking, more glue ended up on the floor than in the canoes. Shortly after
he destroyed the molds because he was sick of canoe-making, his dragging
foot tripped on a power chord in the garage, and because of his poorer
reaction time an otherise simple fall resulted in a broken hip. He went
through a tough time with both the hip and PD for a couple years. The hip
is much better now, and he's managing PD with one sinemet cr (50/200) 3x
daily; i.e. 6AM, noon, and 10PM. He will also occasionally take a sinemet
10/100 on a real bad day, or on a day when he needs an extra boost (like
holidays or while travelling). He tries to limit taking the extra sinemet to
no more than once or twice a week, but will sometimes go a couple weeks
w/out. He gets up early and will usually work out in the garage until early
afternoon - after that he's usually too stiff to continue. The garage is
now really a workshop - he just finished building an elaborate array of
shelves, tables and drawers - and just put in a new bandsaw, planer and
jointer with their tax refund. He's been working with wood all his life,
but because of us kids he never had enough money to put together a decent
shop. Now he is "ready to take orders" from us kids and friends. When I
think of his forward moving - damn the PD - full speed ahead attitude it
brings tears to my eyes. Not pity - pride. Pardon the boasting; I hope
it's not taboo here. I just know we are all so much more than PWP and
families of PWP with so many more dimensions. I've been printing this forum
and mailing it to him... We would both like to hear of other interests and
distractions from PD that PWP are doing. If this isn't the place for that,
you may e-mail me directly.
Questions:
1) Itching all over can be a real problem sometimes. He's convinced it has
something to do w/ PD or meds or both. He's tried Eucerin, Aveeno,
Tinactin, Cortisone-5 cream, and Goldbond powder. Only Goldbond seems to
offer any relief. Any suggestions?
2) What are the ups and downs of becoming a research participant. He is
excited about GPI-1046 and has no idea how to find out who to contact to
express interest. Would he have to surrender his normal meds? Insurance
and expense issues are also a concern.
Bob
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