Hi Lynn,

My heart goes out to you. My mom was diagnosed in her 50's too beginning with a gait disorder. The good news is that PD that presents fairly early as a gait disorder tends to have a slower rate of decline. In fact my mom did well until about 70, when she participated in a clinical trial and suffered a brain injury and hasn't been the same since.

The thing that gets you through is to focus on the part that is still your mom and not her PD. Over time this becomes more challenging as she'll begin to have bad days, then bad times over the course of the day and still you focus on what is her, and cherish her good times.

My grandfather passed away in his 70s after 2 decades (I think) of PD. I was an older teen at the time, and I remember that he still knew who I was and he still knew who he was at the time he died. He was still in there. Old age robs you of so many things. You sometimes have to look hard for joy. But he did, and he found joy in his life until the end, when he died of natural causes.

I wish you peace.