10 years!   Ten years since diagnosis.  I knew something was wrong a year before.  So let's say 11 years with this mindblowing condition and while I am in decent shape, I still have no affection for some of what PD has given to me:

This will be the Cole's Notes version of my new world.  What started out as a slight weakness in my right hand has blossomed into all-out  PD and yet the drugs keep my public symptoms from surfacing.  You would never know I had PD, but beneath the surface:

1,     I have a resting tremor
2     I grow more rigid as the months go by
3     I move at glacial speed
4      I festinate (look it up)   Not often, but it happens.
5.    I have absolutely no sense of smell
6    My voice is disappearing.
7    I talk slower in a monotone
8    I can't find words when I speak out loud
9     My ability to write (longhand & print)....yep....gone too
10   hard time eating, usually the last one to finish
11   sleep disturbances..... I rejoice if I get 4 hours sleep
12  constipation
13  fatigue

And that's just a few of them and yet, I carry on and accept this my life now and for the future and I am still an optimist.  I think 2020 will be a banner year.