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Charles, I am thankful that you are active. Your 'Hard times' and other letters, the letters and information available from this list, and yes the banter have been helpful for me at a time when my PD seems to be progressing a little faster than previously. What you say about PD is true. It is a rotten deal, and bitching about it helps. What you said about having company in our misery is also true. It helps too. One of the most striking things about PD is that it comes and goes. Every symptom I have experienced soon lessens or goes away---at least for a while. Just wait and things will change, often for the better. It is just that now the PD seems to come a little more than it goes. I seem to have had at one time or another, fortunately in very small samples so far, just about every one of the PD symptoms people describe. Evidently, Mr. PD is showing me samples of what he can do---enough for me to respect him and know that he ultimately will make life really miserab le---but not enough to stop me yet. We still have time to get something more out of life. We have a reasonable chance of dying years from now from some other disease, or from something else. (gunshot wounds? Now that would be an adventure.) I am going to go for it (life, not the gunshot) with you. Baldwin Robertson, 62/4 [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Charles T. Meyer Sent: Monday, August 04, 1997 10:17 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Re Hard times Hi George, I think it is important that we bitch a little (or a lot) once in a while here. I have written here about healthy and unhealthy denial and while it is not productive to wallow in our misery there are a lot of times that I feel miserable and damn it, I have a right to feel sorry for myself- when I am unable to go some place on my own, when I wake up at 4 AM with muscle cramps, When I watch the woman I love burdened by my lack of mobility. George-, You ask for words of wisdom. The fact is that you and I and the 1500 pwp on this list are living with (either themselves or through someone we are close to ) a shitty illness that slowly robs us of aspects of our being. The only wisdom that I can impart is the fact that knowing you are not alone and that others of us feel the same way and understand what you are experiencing because we experience it too sometimes makes a difference. I think that I have gotten so active on the list because it permits me to feel useful- that I am still able to help and relate to people at a time in my life when I am losing so much physically and emotionally. I need to remind myself that I still have something to offer others and while I have every right to feel overwhelmed with my losses I still have things that I can contribute. Charlie -- ********************************************************** CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. MADISON, WISCONSIN **********************************************************