My life with Parkinson's Disease (PD)

For me, a large portion of each day involves dealing with PD, my constant companion. It's not the kind of illness you can ignore for any appreciable length of time. So spending even a few minutes a day writing about it does seem a bit like overkill. On the other hand, if I'm going to write about my life, it doesn't make much sense to ignore PD.
One of the frustrating things about dealing with Parkinson's is the appalling lack of clear and definite answers to the questions it raises. One hears a lot of "It depends" and "Everyone's different."
Typical questions: How long have I had PD? Most people have it for months or even years before they are diagnosed. Others have it, are unaware and may never know. Many people are misdiagnosed. How will this affect my longevity? Not much, probably. You will live about as long as if you didn't have PD, but the quality of that life will be diminished, at least to some degree. When will I experience side effects from medications, what kind can I expect? It depends and everyone's different. Some people have great difficulty tolerating certain drugs while others have little or no problems. Some drugs work well for some people and not at all for others. More about this later.