Welcome to the list Paul. I can tell I'm going to like your posts as I'm always ready for some humor. Enjoyed your joke and learning about your past successes w/challenges you have faced. Since joining this list in Jan 98 I have found humor, knowledge, empathy, courage and just a caring bunch of people from all around the globe. Jeanette Fuhr 47(my age)/9mo(time since diagnosed) <[log in to unmask]> My webring site is <http://www.newcountry/nu/pd/members/auntie1.htm> ---------- From: Paul-W. Turloff <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Thank you Date: Monday, August 17, 1998 12:14 AM I write to the list since Barb was kind enough to make me welcome and suggest that I my introduce myself. I decided to subscribe to the list to find out what might be new and worth knowing about the Parkinson condition and I find lots of folks seem to be ? worse of than myself. I am 66 years old and I suffered a stroke in 1993, I was lucky, it took time but I got things together again and eventually with lots of physio I learned to walk again and do things but I had to retire from working,(I was a Building Surveyor) that's when depression set in. The stroke left my left side disabled to some degree and I seemed to be left with a tremor in my left hand, no one took any notice of that at the time as I had bigger problems. Two years ago I was finally diagnosed with Parkinson however, just then I entered Hospital because to top things of for me I hade a tumour at the entry to the stomach and so once more this was worse than the Parkinson problem and no treatment was commenced for a another year. I had six month of chemo therapy and for the time I seem to be clear of that ( my oncologist say's I am 18 month past my use-by date!) So the treatment for the Parkinson decease has only started this year and as I am also on other medication I am starting to rattle and I suppose every one knows that every medication needs another to fight the side effects of the first. What I find difficult is the fact that Parkinson not only causes the trembling but so many other things which I did not recognise and many of my symptoms are confused with the after affects from my stroke. The absolute worse in all this I find is the depression I suffer and then again sometimes I think the Prozac is worse than the decease, or is it? Two years ago when I went down with the cancer my dog died and that did not help but now I have a new dog again and started to go walking again,(very slowly). When I look at the list I find every one seems to be from the US of A so I leave you with a smile: A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets talking. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, "Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large." Then they walk around the ranch a little, and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, "We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows." The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, "And what are those?" The Aussie replies with an incredulous look, "Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas? Paul Turloff.