I'm sure that I will be repeating a lot of what others have already said, but I felt that I'd like to share with you Doreen's experience with the "tell or not to tell" dilemma. Doreen is an extremely honest and upfront person so that NOT telling her employer seemed not to be an option...and, too, the stress of NOT making them aware only complicated and exacerbated her tremor(which was not really too evident at the time) so that she probably could have "put off" telling them; however, she chose not to do that. What she did do was to post a notice on the employee bulletin board that read: "WHAT DO MOHAMMED ALI, JANET RENO, POPE JOHN, MICHAEL FOX and DOREEN have in common? One by one...all separately...came to Doreen and expressed how sorry they were to know this...and many called me at home to tell me how sorry they were, too. From that day until now, she has had nothing but wonderful support...there isn't anything anyone there wouldn't do for her. Of course, she wants no one to feel sorry for her, and she refuses to allow anyone to do something that she feels she is capable of doing...she would never take advantage of their goodness. You may or may not recall that just recently, Doreen went through a particularly difficult time as a result of having taken Cogentin...absolutely horrendous cognitive impairment which, until this was resolved by weaning off the medication, became a very real problem at work. Doreen is a medical assistant to the cancer specialist in the ENT practice...has been his assistant for 20+ years...but, they just couldn't allow her to work with him while cognitively impaired. They simply relieved her of that position and virtually allowed her to function in whatever capacity she could at the time. It's important to note that Doreen has no recall of all this and it was not until all was resolved with the medication situation that her administrator talked with her and asked her what SHE would want to do in the office...even asked her if she'd like to return to full-time medical assisting. She decided not to do this...that the stress level in that position was becoming a bit too difficult for her...and, at her suggestion, she now oversees and assists the other medical assistants with all the other work that their job entails (aside from working with the doctor). It has been difficult for her in a way because she has had to relinquish a job that she had so thoroughly enjoyed...but, the stress level is so much less. Perhaps Doreen has just been fortunate in that she works for and with people who seem to really care about her and are willing to do what's necessary to help her to continue to work for them. I realize that for some, the circumstances are such that it just might not work as well for them as it has worked for Doreen...but, as I believe someone else mentioned...just unburdening oneself by being upfront with one's employer has to be a relief in and of itself...has to result in a lessening of the stress level thus making it so much easier to do one's job. I guess, then, I am of the opinion that it's so much better to tell than not to tell. It just seemed, too, that Doreen was so respected for having made her employer and her coworkers aware of her PD. I understand so well the dilemma that this presents, but, in the long run, I firmly believe that most employers will respond well to an employee who is honest enough to risk telling.

Therese