Thank you for your post. I am a Vietnam Vet and have been diagnosed with Parkinsons based on Agent Orange (Dioxin) exposure. My symptons are also not "standard". I have speach issues that are getting worse. Can't find the word, no sentence structure, stuttering. I have virtually no memory. I can remember a zillion things from 40 or 50 years ago but literally can't transfer a complete phone number - I have to do it one digit at a time. I do not have the shuffeling gait walking and do not have the hand/finger rolling, but my feet tap dance like mad (as I write this) if I am sitting and my body jerks all the time, I have watched some video of MJF and see him jerking also. I do volunteer work and if I start to feel too much stress I become totally non functional and want to go home and hide under the covers - literally.
I have the bladder issues and if I go on a trip of any length I wear a diaper (pull-ups). Great on the male ego.
I walk a lot and I find exercise is the best for me, and I strive for a 2 to 3 mile walk every day although I often get much less. I do take Carbidopa/levodopa which I believe helps quite a bit. I tried gabapentin and for me it was horrible - bless the people it works for.
I have significant balance issues but for some reason I can walk, not perticularly straight line but with many "midcourse corrections". Where I live the sidewalks are broken and people park on them so you have to walk on the street but there are a couple of paths that are good, but one has to deal with other issues.
Bless you, it sounds like you are coping fairly well and its good to know that there are others striving to "deal with the cards they were delt" with a positive attitude.

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