Bob, lately your posts have been ahead of their time with the Alice in Wonderland theme. If only it were'nt so darn true. I am convinced of the conspiracy to keep duodopa out of the US market. It's all the dollars, gotta be. Meanwhile these corporate "sponsors" dangle a carrot in the air. I for one don't expect that we'll hear anything on duodopa come April 27th. They have the patent on it so nothing else is coming onto the market to replace it. We are left with slow acting pills and years of more research with them not even close to where stem cell transplants are a viable option. Like I've said before would you want to be an oncologist only to wake up tommorrow morning and find out that they have cured cancer? Ah, here ya go-they'll tell you they've cured it!
Anyone reading this, will not see a significant treatment modality such as duodopa, stem cells in their lifetime. We just won't. Takes too long, and even now do you want to go through a procedure where they only published the good results?
I woke up from a nap today and felt depressed, I had slept through 2 doses of sinemet and was quite stiff. I got in my powerchair and went up the street to a small park. All along the way I was thinking about this issue, what if we for some reason (like the Amgen debacle) don't get duodopa over here? There are lots of treatments not available in the US. I for one recognize the huge potential to change my life if we were to get it. Then I started thinking how bad would I get or let myself get before I gave up. A friend with PD died when he rolled over and was pinned between the wall and the bed. He could not clear his airway-swallowing problems and was found by family members.
Today has been a very depressing day for me with these thoughts, along with the factor of the Easter holiday with which I have been having some personal struggles. Along with that I recently decided to end a relationship with a woman who is wonderful but she has a special needs daughter that requires 24/7 care and it is just too much for me see her taking care of her daughter then to have to worry about me. As it is it will be some three yrs ago now that my wife left me. Yup just up and packed a bag and moved back home. When I was signed in to a hospital for the depression from this she came down and took everything including the nails hanging the pictures on the wall. When a friend drove me home I turned the key in the door and the place was empty. I shot you not. Well to top it all off fellow PDers my power chair broke tonight something in the wiring harness so I am relegated to dancing with the walker (faller) is more like it. Well it is nighttime, so I can take a few mg of clonopin and deny reality until the morning. Have any of you heard that song by Kenny Chesney, I'd do a lot of things different. Worth a listen.