There was a medical show on last night and one of the patients was a Parkinson's patient.  They were going to perform surgery on him to install one of those transmitters in his brain to control the intense shaking.  He was young about 47, so a good candidate for the surgery.  In my father in laws case since he is 81 I don't think he is a good candidate for this kind of thing.  But the other half was watching this program and I think it really got to him.  Life is so indeed fragile  My father in law now mostly stays at home and appears to be in almost full retirement.  I think the diagnosis was hard for him to hear. 

It is hard, isn't it? I believe they only do that particular surgery on younger patients, with a particular kind of Parkinson's. In the case of my father in law, he went quite some time, about 15 years, after his diagnosis before he got really bad. Some medications are really helpful, but it can take some tweaking before they get the right type and the right dosage. My father in law did one thing that I thought was really brave. He was on a medication that he was reasonably happy with, but when he was in his late seventies, he went off of it, and on a trial of a new medication. His reasoning is that they need to test these things, and it is better for him, an old man, to take the chance of things not working out well, than for a younger person with maybe many more years of life ahead. As it worked out, the new medication did not do well for him at all, and he lost a lot of ground which he has never been able to make up. He is now in a nursing home as he has lost a lot of function, and my mother in law, who is also of course elderly, can't care for him anymore. My husband's grandmother also had this disease, and for her, although her body went, she still had good mental sharpness right until the end. So, a diagnosis doesn't really mean that the person you know is gone for good. Has your husband looked into the Parkinsons' support groups? The doctor should be able to put him in touch with one.

Hello Dana,

The diagnosis is a shocker to them. My dad has parkinsons too. He tries not to think of it but when they experience symptoms it is hard not to. My dad recently had vertigo for 3 days or more but was hesitant to share it with anyone. The good thing is when they develop it at an older age it usually does not progress as quickly as with a younger person. The medications they have are helping my dad alot too. My heart goes out to you, your husband and your inlaws. cdb