Hi All,

Girija: I hope that you're trip is magical...how lovely for your daughter!

The month I self-diagnosed, two months before I saw an MDS, and already at Stage 2.5, PD devastated my 20-year career in nonprofit development.

Rendered it unfulfilling. Impossible. Guilt-ridden. Gone. Disappeared to the dustbin of history. Just on the brink of saving the world (lol), I had to save myself.

The calculus was simple: use my few hours of energy each day playing eternal catch up at work leaving no energy for my family or myself...or ditch the job and conserve my energy for my two boys, my darling and my health?

No contest. It was obvious what I should do. Yet before I could act on it, I hit a wall. Physically, emotionally and psychologically. I simply collapsed. My body had made the decision for me.

Unbelievably 7 months have passed. I miss my colleagues, the intellectual challenge, the sense of usefulness. But I know it's better this way, whether Social Security approves my SSDI application or not. My heart goes out to those who don't have --or don't feel that they have--any choice but to work.

Poor but happy Rose