Ron,
Until I read this post I thought I was fairly fully committed. My routine is Mon - hydro, Tues - Tai Chi, Wed - acupuncture (monthly). Thurs - Yoga, Fri - massage. I also co-ordinate local farmers markets (volunteer), help my husband run his bee farming business, help run the local community broadband & village website. In my spare time I run a large house, babysit, read lots & do cryptic crosswords. Angela.

"The first "support" groups that I wandered into were about as nourishing as a funeral home. Old folks waiting for death. Well, I intend to live as long as I can and I will fight the ***** every step of the way. And, god willing, I'll do it with a smile on my lips. Most of the time".

Really eloquent reply, got me quite inspired.

CS, I too have found it hard to retire, I retired at 43 having had a very stressful job that was a huge portion of my life. I do get a feeling that my position in the family is changing. I get an income from an insurance policy while my wife works. However I have noticed that my children (15 and 16), appear to have forgotten I once had a career and go to my wife for work related questions. I also try to instill a work ethic in them however telling my youngest "no one gets anything for nothing" she replied, "well you do". I am hardly setting a good impression I guess.

I find it hard to believe that describing what I do during the day will have much value to yourself, we are at different stages of PD, probably financially different and we have different interests and access to social facilities. Besides what I like, (donkey sanctuaries, etc), you will probably hate.

I believe this thread cuts across your other thread, I have found the "family side" of retirement hardest. When I was first dx'ed with PD, my family were all I wanted and became the most important part of my life by far. Now I need to find a way to "re align" myself in the family group and I do not have the answer. The best I have is that I do not want to become a professional PD patient and as a result, showing independence is crucial.

I suppose this brings me full circle to Reverett's quote and an agreement that premature retirement is not easy. Keeping respect as the position of the "breadwinner" (sexist I know but part of my upbringing), from the family harder still.

I don't have any more insight into the subject, if you find the answer, (or I do), please post it on BT2.

Take care,
Neil.

Neil;

My kids did the same thing til I pointed out to them I had worked 30 years to get that retirement.
I do not let them get away with minimising my professional accomplishments.

Charlie

Whatever I can, and occasionally only what I want to. Yes we are all very different. I am an YO PDer and have had it for 10 years. Whaile its true that some of us get a lighter sentence than others, I have found that attitude and personality make a huge difference. The first support goup that I joined and still occasionally attend had extremes on both sides of the see-saw. There was one fellow who was total wreckage as far as I could tell, and that was more than 10 years ago now. He is still total wreckage, and as far as I can determine there is little to no change in his PD. He often scares newly diagnosed people and he was a bit of an "image" problem for the group. We all should do so well. On the other hand 3 others who were managing their PD well (or so it appeared) have died of their disease, or at least of directly related causes. So much for appearances....it means very little.

As most of you know I preach diary, journal; and recordkeeping to an obsessive level. I have learned the following things WRT my PD.
1. If I take sinemet between 11:00 PM (bedtime) and 7:00 am (rise time) my meds will not work as well the next day.
2. If I eat too much high GI food, or "goodies" I will have what I lovingly call "Sugar shakes" or an excellerated tremor for a day or two after.
3. If I get some exercise (treadmill:20 minutes) I will have a better day.
4. If I sit at the computer too long I will be stiffer and not sleep as well that night.
5. I must eat right AND at the right times or I will have to pay according to the laws of the PD universe for my carelessness. There is NO MERCY

There's more but I'll spare you. PD is an exercise in learning about what your body responds to and then dicipline to act on whats in your best interest. The flip side of the coin is just to live the "chaotic -whatever it takes to get through the day-what's this I've got anyway?" paradigm of the illness. There is an old saying I like: If your all wrapped up in yourself -your overdressed. If your all wrapped up in your PD you'll be consumed by it. I really believe that. I just read Norman Cousins: Anatomy of an Illness. I found it at the Junque Store for 99cents. The buy of the month for sure! Cheerio pals... Keep your heads down and your chins up and you'll be fine.

rather than hijack this one. But I would like to know more of the PD history of ourselves and those we know and the specific things we have noticed about ourselves. So, I will call it "PD - yesterday and today"