DIAGNOSIS POLLS

[JonStamford]

OK guys, you know the drill from our flashpolls. We post a series of polls around a particular issue. Each poll is up for 24 hours. That way we get fast info and your opinion is logged. The first poll is up now. It's about the amount of info you got at diagnosis. Let us have your thoughts. We will later be asking about the level of info and a whole lot more. Thanks for helping guys.

[Hidden]

The diagnosis was fast and impersonal back in 2010

Doc said as he looked at his computer screen (not at me) Good news your blood test shows you have Gilberts syndrome, can't do much about that. You also have Parkinsons and the neurologist has written to me (I had a ten minute consultation with him two weeks previous) suggest I put you on Madopar x 3 a day. That was it in a nutshell. If I had not looked on the net I would not have found the local help source. she came out a few weeks later, gave me a load of leaflets and reminded me to let DVLA know at Swansea if I drove a car.

Luckily, being a registered nurse I know what PD is.

Thats life nowadays so impersonal. I collect my drugs monthly, every six month I get five minutes with a neurologist. I'd like to say it makes me angry but it dosn't, It only makes me stronger.

So I have PD, bugger it! It certainly is not getting in my way to upset my life

I will fight it all the way.

[Annie81963]

I was first diagnosed in Dec. 2010, a young Neurologist spent an hour + examining me.He was very thorough and patient and asked alot of questions.When he was finished with the exam,he said sit down and I will tell you what I think is going on.I thought to myself,here we go again,he's going to tell me I have carpal tunnel,a pinched nerve ,etc etc from 30 years as a Barber.It goes with the profession I've been told.Wrong,so wrong.He told me it was PD,very early stages and he wanted me to get a second opinion and I did.I currently see a Neurologist in PA. and he is wonderful.Answers all my questions and I have plenty.Thanks to him and his staff, I have PD, it does not have me.

[PatV]

omg, that is terrible! my first encounter with a neurologist -- he didn't want to believe I had PD. The one who diagnosed me was not a PD specialist and after a 5 hour wait he talked to the entourage about me with his hand on my knee After bitching and praying I found my present neuro who, despite being a research doc, spends a lot of time talking to his patients and started an exercise program. Hope you find a good one soon.

[grammieof3]

Got my life sentence in 2005 and nothing else. I was told there is no cure and probably want be in your life time but no one dies from pd its from complications.i guess this was suppose to be a comfort. What I've learned has been from reading. On my third neuro and have a great one now. I was also put on sinamet right away so now i have dystonia bad

[DeParkiePoet]

I knew going in that PD was the likely diagnosis, but the Neurologist thought the symptoms might be related to Depression. So he said "possible Parkinsonism", He was very patient and answered all my questions. My present Neuro is wonderful and a friend now. He leads a community support group for PD patients...

[marthasway]

Precious little at diagnosis, but I had a suspicion is was PD or some kind of neurological problem. My internist, whom I liked very much, had done the basic observational signs and history and said I needed to go to a Neurologist to confirm the diagnosis. On the way home, I lashed out at the cab driver for making a racist remark, and demanded she stop the car right then! That is how I realized I was more upset than I thought. After I apologized, recovered my equilibrium, and fired up the computer, I started to read for hours, first trying to find a loophole before accepting the reality. There was a reason I kept falling, why I would clasp my hand to keep it still, why I was getting so weak, why I was walking like an old woman at 51. There was a reason called Parkinson's Disease.

I had been diagnosed with brain cancer at 47. At that time, I made my peace with God, and accepted every thing with an attitude of gratitude for each day. The Parkinson's diagnosis hit me much harder. Is there a better way to find out? Probably, but in the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor Man, "I am what I am", and this is my story. Sharing it is how I am taking ownership of my life,

[JonStamford]

Thanks everyone for all the brilliant feedback so far!

[shasha]

i live in france and was dx'd in jan 2010 so coming up for three years . he is a young neuro and wsas very thorough with everything - i am currently in hospitAL IN LIMOGES AS I HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ANY OF THE MEDS HE HAS PRESCRIBED ME SO AM NOW ON A DRUGS HOLIDAY FOR A WEEK AT LEAST TO SEE IF I AM INDEED A PWP OR NOT - ITS NOT MUCH FUN AT THE MOMENT AS I AM IN PAIN IN MY NECK - MY BACK AND MY FEET AND LEGS TOO BUT HOPE TO START TO FEEL BETTER SOON