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-------------------- Attn: George Lussier It was actually twenty years ago when I was -------------------- 35 years old, but the memories are vivid. I went to see a neurologist to find out why I was having so much diffi- culty writing, getting out of my car, and why I was "walking funny." He did a brief exam, then left the examining room. He came back in and said to me..."Is your husband out in the waiting room?" He wasn't with me but I couldn't imagine why he wanted to know. When he said..."You are extremely young but you have Parkinson's Disease"... I said, "What's that?" I honestly had never heard of Parkinson's Disease! He didn't tell me what it was or how it could affect me but only said..."Don't worry - we have drugs now to treat it." That was it. No pamphlets or brochures, no phone numbers to call, no nothing. I spent the next couple of weeks trying to research PD at libraries and bookstores and as I learned the "facts", I felt devastated because everything was out-dated (some of the first books I read were written before they made the levodopa discovery!) Although over time I found out about support groups and became knowledge- able about my affliction, I think about how much easier it would have been if that first neurologist had just given me a few minutes of his time. Regards, Janice Long (55/20)