Gail Dons
Forum Replies Created
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Hey, Robert! My dad was military, my husband was military, but we have managed to live in Chicago for 5 years – South Side (Hyde Park)
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My problem with the brand Sinemet was that it got crumbly in heat, and since I spend several months a year in very hot, un-air conditioned climates, it was especially difficult when I had to cut a tablet in half. The generic actually worked better for me there!
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I’m fortunate to live in a city rich with movement disorders centers, so I don’t have a neurologist, just my MDS. I see her every 6 mos, but the Portal works well, usually getting a response from my doctor or her nurse within 24hrs. Last summer, I worked in Africa for 6 weeks, and when I had some problems with my meds/symptoms I was able to communicate with my team and adjust my meds from thousands of miles away!
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- I am so sorry you had that experience, Geraldine. That should definitely not be the norm. It may help to prepare for your doctor’s visits by writing down a list of your issues and your questions – and then stand between him/her and the door! If you keep having that experience, find another doctor. You need a physician who does care, and with whom you can communicate. You have a long road ahead, best traveled with good friends, and that includes your doctor.
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For me, the best route was to tell everyone right away. I had no shakes – just a leg that dragged and absolutely awful posture. It didn’t affect ether the quality or quantity of my work. I was a senior partner in a private ObGyn practice and I wanted both my partners and my patients to see that Parkinsons patients are still the same people they have already gotten to know and appreciate. Like a regular person, not a person who looked and acted disabled! I wanted them to know that this diagnosis does not mean an immediate drop in your IQ or your ability to perform!!!. I continued to deliver babies and perform surgery (yes, a few people felt they had watch me to make sure I was “OK”, but after awhile, they got bored and quit!) At 65, I “retired” and moved to Chicago, where I work part time and spend several months each year working in a hospital in Africa, still delivering babies and doing surgery. At 71 now, God has blessed me with a benign Parkinsons course thus far. While that will not always be the case, perhaps my early public acknowledgement will allow other PwPs like me to be regarded as competent, great employees with a lot to contribute.
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Hi everyone!
I had a poor sense of smell for years, as well as sleep apnea  (and I am not overweight or diabetic), but I attributed it to my lousy sinuses. After extensive sinus surgery, I was still stuck with both. A few years later, I had an auto accident and, while I still had a cast on my leg, a small TIA. The MRI showed no problem, but after the cast came off, I couldn’t walk correctly – I dragged my left leg. My son, a physical therapist, said I walked like someone who had had a stroke, so i went back to the neurologist. He didn’t order another MRI; he told me he thought I had Parkinsons! A DAT scan was confirmatory – and that was 6 years ago. I still have never had any shakes, but I do need a small dose of Sinemet now to keep from stumbling and falling – and to keep my upper body upright. Good posture surely gets rid of some chronic back pain! Also working on yelling at my husband to make up for my soft voice!