Anonymous wrote:OP here -- Thank you all for these very thoughtful perspectives. Your kindness in sharing your experiences with a complete stranger restores my faith in humanity. You've given me a lot to think about and I might come back with questions later. To those of you who are experiencing a family member's chronic illness, I wish you the best.

OP I'm a PP and thought I'd check in. I'm glad you came back to read the posts.

As you've read, PD can present as mainly physical symptoms with less cognitive issues or more cognitive (which usually means LBD or a parkinsonism dementia and a shorter lifespan typically - this is my DH's situation). You will eventually be able to tell. Many with mainly tremor dominant versions live almost their entire life span (thing 80yo etc) but that doesn't mean toward the end they have a great quality of life either. So definitely take some vacations, make plans for when the times will get rough well in advance - eg we've sold house and hope to buy a one level condo to make life easier before we need it. People with PD have a lot of trouble with change as the disease progresses! Therapy for kids if they want and as an adult - I find support groups where we can vent some to be helpful. There are some online that Zoom. We are still quite active but as I become housebound because of DH, I know I will be using them more to learn and have a place to discuss.