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Sherry, you asked -

 >What can I really expect?  How long will I be able to continue to work (I do
 accounting and use the keyboard alot which is getting very hard to do)?
 Should I be planning for assisted care soon? I know these questions are
 unanswerable but I wish someone could give me a ballpark figure...say 5-10
 years before you will require help with daily chores...or something!  >>

Doctors are reluctant to give you an answer because Parkinson's varies so
much from one person to another.  Some people have many productive years left
before becoming unable to work.  My husband continued teaching for 13 years
after diagnosis.  He had ten good working years, and the last two or three
were more difficult for him.

After nearly 18 years of PD, my husband is still active and still plays golf,
although that, too is getting a bit more difficult than it used to be.  I'd
guess that you have a number of active working years left if you can find the
right meds.

I'd encourage you to keep pestering your doctor until you find meds that you
can take that will improve your symptoms.  Some people find that nausea from
meds goes away after a few weeks, but there are certainly other drugs to try
if Mirapex doesn't seem to work for you.

Do you know how to do an archive search in the list archives for additional
information?  That would be helpful.

Margie Swindler,  cg for Dick, 54/17