Hi everyone!

I'm glad to hear that everyone here is doing well.

I've been busy these last few weeks, but wanted to stop by and say hello. I started back on my BSIT degree program online with the University of Phoenix, and this has eaten up a good hunk of my spare time. Do you know that Algebra is good for the brain? I haven't done this stuff in nearly 25 years so I could feel the neurons trying to rebuild and unclog the cobewebs. This is a 5-week super-intense course that really forces the information into the neurons. The biggest problem I have is trying not to exhaust myself by pushing too hard to get the homework done.

On the music front, my piano playing is sadly down to less than 4 days a month if I'm lucky. This is depressing to say the least. I have resigned to the fact that I can no longer play at the caliber that I did in the past, and take the good days when they come. I canceled a paying gig that I was asked to do. I didn't want to make an ***** out of my self in front of everyone. There's nothing like having the hands flip out randomly during a performance.

The increased Sinemet from 4-1/2 to 6-12 per day I'm taking is helping tremendously though. I can actually get out of a chair without assistance. This is unlike how it was about a month ago. I also no longer feel ill in the morning, or stiff until 2:00 in the afternoon. I still, however, have the tremor, which doesn't stay away as much anymore and is more pronounced. Perhaps this is because I could control it more before. Now ony if the piano playing would come back. That's when everything would be perfect.

I had a visit with my PCP this past Tuesday. He got the results from my neurologist at the Lahey Clinic. The diagnosis has been downgraded from an atypical form of Parkinson's to Parkinson's Disease with dyskinesia and spaticity. This comes as both a shock and relief because I felt this is what it was all along. It's funny how your own instincts can tell you something is wrong long before the doctors come to the same conclusion.

My B-12 is also extremely low too at 177, which is even lower than it was before I started the shots and the pills! He has me taking 4 pills per day for the next 2-months, and if this doesn't show any improvement, he wants me to have both the pill and the shots to bring up my levels.

Anyway, I'll check in more often to see how every one is doing.

Take care all,

John