Thank you for taking the time to reply Mouse!

My mother does have some other movement issues, but it's still unclear what the cause is. One dr. gave her the dx of Rheumatoid Arthritis, then later recanted that dx. Arthritis runs in our family, I have severe osteo arthritis myself. It's really hard to say because I have so many of the same symptoms she's having, but supposedly mine are coming from my back. She shuffles, but she says she does it on purpose because she's afraid she'll hurt herself. I personally have not noticed the lack of facial expressions as my sister has. She was here in the Spring and she was slowing down a lot, but heck she's 75 and never was very physically active. I shuffle too, especially in the mornings or when I'm worn down. I think so much is overlapping and a proper dx for her will hard to get. It's going to require a lot of testing, which she hates. I've got a medical background, and have done a lot of research when I was dx'd with ET. My gut feeling is that it's not Parkinsons, but rather a combination of lack of movement, arthritis and possibly a few pinched nerves in back. It's not like she was a tennis player and suddenly everything has stopped. She led an active lifestyle, but nothing to ever make herself stronger. When she started quilting, she stopped moving and doesn't believe in working at it through the pain. She's just given up I think.

Anyway, I'll keep doing my research.

Thanks again,

Linda