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Hello Barbara. Thanks for the welcome. My name is Robin Ingram, I live in New Zealand/Aotearoa and my mum (who doesn't live in the same part of the country as me, and doesn't have a computer) was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a couple of years back. So I'm really on this list more to just listen in as an ear for my mum, and also it might help me get more of a grip on something that still seems a little unreal. Mum's encounter with the disease began when she started to have an intermittent tremble in one hand. For a good long time the doctor denied it was anything to do with Parkinson's. Finally, another of my sisters, of whom we are four, arranged an appointment with a specialist in the town where she lives, who rapidly confirmed it was indeed the P Disease. So finally, some months later, mum was moved onto some kind of medication, I don't know what. Mum hates talking about it, and her shaking hand, which is still the major physical manifestation, humiliates and embarrasses her if it starts to happen when other people are around, or if she's in town (she's a farmer) or at a function. It's quite extraordinary to me that she's got a lot of stamina, continues to go out tramping with the tramping club she has belonged to for years, and can put in some substantial miles, but at the same time, for example last year I hadn't seen her visually for a period of about six months, and in that time she had nearly wasted away (or so it seemed to my eyes). She was so frail it seemed the slightest breeze would waft her away, but she was still going out tramping twice a week more or less regularly. Soon after this her medication was changed and she lost that frailness. On top of all this, my father is somewhat ambivalent about his role of caretaker. I don't mean he's a horrible, uncaring person, just that he's also dealing with an unknown that frightens him. And talking of fear, mum is very, very frightened of P Disease. Classic things happen like, mum takes the medication, starts to feel better, then stops taking it because she's feeling better - all to do with not wanting to accept the disease is in her life, I suspect. I'm not saying any of this critically, I hope you understand, just trying to describe an atmosphere. Anyway, that's the long and the short of it. I'm really here to listen and learn, both for myself and for my mother. Cheers. Robin -- Robin Ingram, trade aid & one world books volunteer [log in to unmask] the proper way to read any book is with at least 2 cats assisting