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Linda, you quoted Reuters as saying: "said Fox is in the 'late mild' stage of Parkinson's and that he is hopeful..." Hmmmm.... (thinking) Does ANYONE have *VOLUNTARY* BRAIN SURGERY when they're in the "late MILD" stage of a disease?" Technically, that MAY be what the medical profession calls feeling so- rotten-that-ANYTHING-including-voluntary-brain-surgery-is-preferable- to-life-as-it-is. But REALISTICALLY (and speaking as a Parkie who had a very successful unilateral pallidotomy 4 years ago...), when ya finally hit the stage where voluntary brain surgery looks like the ONLY OPTION, well, THAT'S *NOT* a "late MILD stage of ANY disease! When your back's against the wall, and you have little or no quality of life, when you begin to think that ANY form of treatment, including voluntary experimental brain surgery has GOT to be better than life as it is... hanging onto your sanity (and not always succeeding) by a thread. in MY book, that's definitely not "late MILD" stage. Medical professionals, and news media moguls, THINK about what you're saying, huh? Step outside the conventional box and THINK! Sheeeesh! The guy has a terrible, chronic, degenerative disease, is young, has a great job, devoted wife and 3 little kids, plus a huge following, and his condition is SO bad that he opts for voluntary brain surgery as a last resort, and THAT'S called, "late MILD?" GET REAL! WE know the difference between "late MILD," and feeling like sh*t - why can't YOU put together two and two and come up with four?!? Barb Mallut (spending the weekend perched on soapbox) b<grin> [log in to unmask],com -----Original Message----- From: Linda J Herman <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, November 27, 1998 5:04 AM Subject: Re: Michael J. Fox articles > The Buffalo News used a Reuters article, which ended with a quote by >Dr. Allan Ropper of Boston's St. Elizabeth Medical Center..."Ropper said >Fox is in the 'late mild' stage of Parkinson's and that he is hopeeful >the actor will be functional for at least another 10 years, and maybe >into old age. But he would not rule out the worst, including Fox having >to quit his work or possibly undergo further brain surgery." At least >this article did present some of the realities of PD. > > As for CNN, they added a new site, "New Treatments, But No Cure >Available for Parkinson's Disease." As of this morning it was at: >cnn.com/HEALTH/9811/25/parkinson.explainer/ - in which they state "the >government estimates that as many as 10% of cases are in people under >40." They also make it clear that there have been advances in treatment, >but that these are not a cure. The story ends with "but until there is a >cure, it is likely the disease will continue to progress." Now if they >would just take this one step further, and also report on the research >funding issues! And they still have the link to the Mayo Clinic site >announcing Tasmar, as a "promising new drug." As Barb stated there is so >much misinformation and outdated information on the Web, given the fact >that there is no control over what goes on it, and very little editing of >the existing sites, but one would hope that organizations like CNN >would check the accuracy and timeliness of the sites they provide links >to. > > We could write individually to our local papers and to the news >organizations, and this is probably a good time to do so. However, it >would be very effective if as Bob Dolezal suggested, there was a unified, >official response from our PD organizations, at this time as well. Maybe >it is coming? > >Happy day- after-Thanksgiving to all. >Linda Herman >