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On July 16th I had deep brain surgery at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC. The operation was performed by Dr Ron Alterman and his team. The result has been spectacular, exceeding my best expectations. I was diagnosed in 1988 at age 48. The disease has steadily progressed to the point where just prior to the surgery I had severe dyskinesia, periods of freezing, serious stiffness, very poor balance, unintelligible speech, and stooped posture.By late afternoon, I was having a very hard time getting around even with a walker. I was unable to ride my bike anymore. A week after the implanting of the electrodes (one on each side of the brain), I went back to Beth Israel, and had the neurostimulators implanted in my upper chest. A week after that procedure, I again returned to Beth Israel to have the neurostimulators programmed. I was off my medication and could only get around in a wheel chair. During the programming (which took about a 1/2 hour) I really didn't feel much different.I stayed seated for about 5 minuets. Then I had to get up. Much to my surprise I was able to stand and walk and talk. I was a little tired for a couple of days, but I continued to improve. The dyskinesia was gone. I could speak fairly clearly. My balance was back, and last week I began riding my bike again! I feel like a new man. The operation is no picnic. The halo wasn't as bad as I anticipated, but was bad enough. For me, the worst part of the operation was the drilling of the two holes in my skull. There was no pain, but the thought of someone opening my skull was frightening.However, Dr. Alterman and his team did a great job. They kept me informed throughout the operation and were very competent and professional. If anyone is contemplating the procedure and would like to discuss my experience, feel free to e-mail me. I must say that given the same circumstances, if I had to, I would readily do it again. Bruce A. Hollenbeck [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn