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The following story appeared this month in the newsletter "Well Informed" for our National Capital Area Chapter of the APDA. I was especially moved by this exceptional story, so I wanted to share it...... Perry Cohen ******************************************************* What Good Is A Support Group? By Lee & Janice Himes If you're like me, or my wife, Janice, you may have wondered the same thing. We're not the kind to go in for any of that "touchy-feely" stuff if that's what it turned out to be. Nor were we keen on getting tied up in anything new, so hoping to find it would prove to be of no real benefit or interest to us, we decided (after talking to Perry Cohen who leads the Young Parkinson Group) to attend just once, at least, to check it out. Little did we suspect at that time, that this would change the destinies of both our lives... in just one visit. Or what a dramatic impact this small reluctant decision would have on both our lives. We attended our first meeting in June. We didn't know anyone there. No one there knew us. We were completely unaware that it was meant for us to be there that night. After the program ended, Ben Bandy, a man on the opposite side of the room, crossed over straight to Janice. Why he singled out my wife from amongst a room full of people that evening, we didn't know. He told us of a study being conducted by Dr. Stephen Reich at Johns Hopkins that my wife, newly diagnosed with Parkinson's, might want to consider participating in as a subject, and he gave us information about who to contact and generally what it involved. My wife dismissed the idea of participating in the study because it meant driving all the way to Baltimore and back on several occasions for at least two days of numerous medical tests. She thought she had better things to do. We were busy planning and preparing for a six month cruise to Florida and the Bahamas on our sailboat. A month passed. We went to another meeting of the support group. Ben didn't attend that one. In August I decided to cancel our cruise to the Bahamas, due to commitments I had made concerning my work. My very independent, very busy wife, had an inspiration.... "Though it won't help me, it might help someone else, someday, if they learn something from the study. Maybe I will call to see what's required of me to participate." The first test was a CAT scan of the brain. It showed a massive brain tumor in the center of her brain, intra-ventricular, located at the foramen of Monro, (in the very center of her head) threatening to cut off the flow of the cerebral-spinal fluid within the brain. It needed to be removed as soon as could be scheduled. My wife had not the slightest symptom to indicate she had a large tumor in her brain. We did not have a clue that it was there. It turned out to be non-malignant and about the size of a lemon. After the 10-hour surgery, the surgeon remarked that it had grown so extensively, that had it not been removed when it was, she would not have had much time left before a major event (tragedy) would have occurred. Janice is doing fine now. You would never know she'd had any surgery. To look at her, you would never guess she has ever attended any kind of "support group" for anything. But you might not be looking at her now, or reading this newsletter entry, had she not at least gone once just to check it out. As it turned out, we couldn't have afforded not to find the time to attend. You never know when it just might just save your life. When Janice and I review the events that have transpired, our faith tells us that the Lord had to be guiding us all along the way. What if the support group had not been formed? What if we had not talked to Perry Cohen? What if we had not gone to that first meeting? What if Mr. Bandy had not been there? What if he had not bothered to go to Janice and describe Dr. Reich's study? What if we had gone on the cruise to Florida and the Bahamas? What if Janice had decided not to participate in the study? What if .....? Thanks Ben. Thanks for attending that night. Thanks for taking the initiative and speaking to Janice about the work going on at Johns Hopkins. Thanks PD support group. Don't know where we'd be today had you not been there. Janice's surgery was October 29th, 1997. Janice and I attended the meeting on December 18th. An unsuspecting Ben was there this time. It was only our third time to attend. I couldn't wait to tell all that had happened since the last time we had seen these folks. We wanted to say thank you to them, and to Ben especially, for the difference they had made. A big difference to my wife, to me, our children, grandchildren, and extended family and friends. Within a minute or two of our having related this to the group, Susan Hamburger hospitably produced a bottle of champagne and we made a toast to the group, the extraordinary good that had come of its formation, and the new year ahead.