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Janet and other list friends, I agree wholeheartedly with your statement: Janet reno is on public view being an example of her pd reality right now she is in the early stages and can still wokr with not much difficulty this is a reality of pd is it not it is also a reality thaat her diagnosis is not an instant dealth sentnece she does not deny that it will get worse This expresses exactly my reaction to the her latest interview and the ongoing controversy about her. Reno's initial announcement that she was diagnosed with PD came a few weeks before my diagnosis in December 1995. In fact seeing her on the news gave me the first inkling that PD could be what all my strange symptons were about. Since then, I've followed her progress, feeling like our lives as Parkies are linked in some way. I do believe that her statements about PD are expressing the reality of HER life as it is TODAY. I share many of her feelings about this stage in our progression. When I first was diagnosed - I thought my life was over. I felt only despair about the future. It was by finding this list and reading and learning from other list members that I came to realize that you can live with PD, and there stilll was a future to look forward to - even if it wasn't the future we had originally planned. After 4 years, I have been fortunate that my disease progression is slow. I am still employed, and after working at part-time jobs for many years - was finally offered a full time job in June, which I accepted, raising some eye brows among my friends. I make it a point to stress to my employer and co-workers what I can do -in spite of PD (which at this point is whatever I could do before) - not what my current problems are or the long-term prognosis (would they have hired me or keep me if I did?) I fully understand and am aware of what is coming down the road - but I don't know when to expect it. I know I will not be able to work to normal retirement age. I know the disease will progress. For now, I chose to make the best of each day - and accomplish whatever I am able to at work and outside of work. Somehow, I think that Janet Reno is doing the same. Linda Herman