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hi claudia you wrote: >Thank you so much for taking the time to write me >...It is very much appreciated... such kind words! thank you! my 'mullings' post was partially a result of your messages so it was a partial reply - this being the other partial! >Many people have commented on the volume of medicine I am taking. >It is apparently out of the ordinary... even though we are all individuals and respond differently, from all i've read and learned, it is, especially so for a newbie. what were your symptoms pre-med and pre-diagnosis? which doctor prescribed/recommended the precription/non-prescription meds? i've searched my 'archives' and 'james' archives as well as PubMed and have not found any medically defined references to parkinson's Type A or B or whatever however there are terms like 'parkinsonism' and 'parkinson's plus' which have been explained in the medical literature i have articles describing general tendencies: i.e. -pd tends to manifest as mostly tremour or mostly rigidity -young-onset parkies tend to have more rigidity and less tremour but i've never heard of a 'type' that progresses more quickly than others pd is the only neurological disorder which can be quite effectively treated medically [pharmacologically] i doubt that i would see a surgeon as the first step as far as i understand it the general meuro attitude to surgery in pd is that it is undertaken almost as a 'last resort' when meds are unable to control symptoms effectively or when the side-effects from the meds become disabling in themselves pallidotomy is a tad controversial since it leaves a permanent lesion in the brain which may preclude the patient's eligibility for newer options which are still under study but will be available down the road i.e. fetal cell transplants, gdnf implants etc i'm afraid i have to express some cynicism over the monies involved in someone promoting surgery at [guesstimate] $40,000 a pop in the usa, regardless of the individual's skills my viewpoint is coloured by my experiences with healthcare in other countries [where healthcare for every citizen is commonly considered a right and not a profit centre] i recall one of our dutch siblings describing the cost of a neurological surgery as the equivalent of $675.00 US >.. I felt that I needed to have some idea as to what I'm up >against so I can make informed decisions about how I want to >live the rest of my life ... predicting the future is a mug's game at best but there's no harm in 'anticipating' or 'planning' however i believe that our society has a tendency to anticipate only the potential disasters [something that one of my favourite speakers, loretta laroche, calls 'catastrophizing' or 'awfulizing'] i believe in equal rights for fortune telling! if i am going to spend time/energy anticipating disasters i feel obligated to spend an equal amount of time/energy anticpating miracles! i admit to getting hot under the collar when i hear definitive predictions being made by anyone in regard to someone's life and health especially in regard to pd since we are all unique bio-chemical 'stews' with unique symptom patterns and unique med reactions dealing with pd [which i have heard referred to as 'a designer disease'] is more of an individually applied art than a science [which may frustrate some of the medicos] there can be a lot of mis-information and just plain ignorance out there we need to learn as much as we can in order to be our own advocates and i can't think of a better resource than this cyber/family/data/base hmmm..... i wonder how many years' experience with parkinson's do we have in total? 9 for me 25 for don mckinley 50 for bev steward hmmmmm..... with love to you and yours from your cyber-sis janet janet [log in to unmask]