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Nancy- If you are interested in surgical treatments - we here at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles perform pallidotomies, thalamotomies, Gamma Knife procedures, DBS and nuerotransplantation. Claudia Perdices, MSW Movement Disorder Coordinator 800-841-8765 > -----Original Message----- > From: Nancy Fox [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 3:17 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN > Subject: new member > > 9/9/98 11:15 AM > > hi, everyone! i'm a new list subscriber, and thought i'd introduce myself > to > the group. so far, i've enjoyed the mail, although i was shocked to come > back > to work this past monday to find that i had almost 100 messages!! my > office > mates think i'm very popular. > > anyway, my mother is 56/7?, a retired school teacher and a wonderful > person. > She suffers more from the psychological/emotional components of the > disease > than the physical (no tremors, etc.). she has extreme anxiety (describes > it > as "trains running through her body") and is depressed as well. lately > she > has not been sleeping well and wakes up in the middle of the night with > delusions/hallucinations. this has started during the day, too. my > family > suspects that her sinemet dosage is too high. we have a first appt. with > a > new psychiatrist today and hope that he will have some suggestions, > possibly > taking her off the sinemet, which has never worked that well for her over > a > long period of time. i've done some online research and have read that > sinemet does not work over the long-term very consistently, and often does > cause delusional behavior. Her symptoms have been exacerbated over the > last > year. > > my aunt is investigating fetal cell transplants, esp. in europe (sweden?), > although my brother and i feel that this is not realistic as her > increasing > dementia would prevent her from being a "good candidate." we are hoping > though, that this could be an option if her delusional behavior has been a > result of the sinemet and not directly from the pd. > > i would love any words of wisdom, advice, etc., especially from those of > you > who can commisserate with me and my family re. the emotional aspects of > parkinsons. this has been truly traumatic for us all and it gets harder > each > day to see her suffer as she does. > > thanks for any help you can offer. sorry if this letter is too long. > i've > enjoyed reading the mail so far, especially from those of you with such > wonderful attitudes and outlooks on life! > > sincerely, > nancy fox, nyc > > Special > Announcement