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Barb: Received the following message. Thank you. I have a mother with PD. She is in stage 4 having had the disease now for 25 years. She is now 79. We've noticed a lot of changes in her this past year and we are all trying to deal with them. It isn't easy, to say the least. But she is a real trooper. And when her meds are working and she isn't shaking, she is a delight to be around--still very sharp and with it. But these times are becoming fewer and farther between. There is a great deal of confusion, especially when she is worried or has something she feels she must do. Lately (the last two weeks) she has spells where she will shake uncontrollably for hours and get very, very hot. At these times she just wants to die. We will put her to bed, read to her, try and make her feel comfortable as well as giving her a little more Sinemet to try and calm her down, but nothing seems to help. Then all of a sudden the shaking will stop and she will be fine. This is very hard on her and on her caregiver. We can't seem to understand why this has all of a sudden started happening. She is confined to a wheel chair and is not able to do anything for herself. However, she can feed herself and has a terrific appetite. We're grateful for that. But then, too, she is started to choke more often as of late and this is very frightening! We have to remind her to chew longer. I need to give you a different e-mail address--the one I gave you is my husband's and I am rarely on his computer. My address is: [log in to unmask] Please start sending me the Parkinson's mail to this new address. Thank you and all of you out there who suffer from this disease--my prayers are with you! Laurie Cook Dear Laurie: Welcome to the PARKINSN list. Please send a message to the list (if you want to) introducing yourself and any Parkinson's-related topics you would like. Let me introduce myself. I am a secretary for six faculty members in the School of Nursing, McMaster University. In September, 1992, I was diagnosed as having Parkinson's...hence my interest in this list. I have appended the guide below this message. I hope you enjoy your involvement with the PARKINSN list. Barb