Dear David,
Please excuse my delay in responding to your last request
for further information. I have been on a wonderful motorhome
vacation over the last month as we toured the United States. I
am choosing to reply to your private note in a more public way
since I believe others may benefit from the questions you raised.
Let me begin by saying I have the highest respect and regard
for Dr. Iacono. Simply because he is such a straight forward doc
who is not afraid to "call it as he sees it". A characteristic
which has not always put him in the good graces of the medical
community. Yet a charactreistic which I feel is most important
from the patient's standpoint.
In no sense is Dr. Iacono skewing his results by glossing
over the failures of which he will admit there are 4-5 out of 160
plus pallidotomies at this point. Even these which were
primarily the result of internal bleeding were not a total wash.
One woman who had sufffered a stroke as the result of the
pallidotomy when she had wrongly taken aspirin in the 24 hour
period before surgery, said tome the relief from the Parkinsons
still was worth the stroke she suffered.
I woud say that everyone is experiencing between a C+ and
and A+ result. No one is dissatisfied, in fact all patients are
extremely grateful for the restoration the pallidotomy has
accomplished.
Dr. Iacono has in reent months done perhaps 30-35 bilateral
pallidotomies, all with excellent results. He is now doing
bilaterals as the rule rather than the exception, which is
wonderful because a person is fixed up all at once rather than
having to come back six-nine months later to have the other side
done.
Why has his technique which is so promising not spread like
"wildfire" among the community of surgeons is a question we alll
have at this time. It is certainly not due to Dr. Iacono's
desire to keep it a secret. In fact to the contrary he is more
than willing to have neurosurgeons come spend time with him and
learn the technique.
The advantage that Dr. Iacono has over other surgeons, in my
opinion, is not just his consummate skill and technique, but a
real passion for the patient and a willingness to do whatever it
takes to help a patient get well. Plus he has dedicated his life
to studying Parkinsons. Parkinsons is not just one of several
diseases he is concerned about it is the disease he has
personally dedicated himself to battling. Furthermore he not
only is very confident in his abilities as a neurosurgeon but he
is well aware of his own limitations as a finite human being
endowed and blessed with certain skills by the author of every
good and perfect gift, the Lord God. There is a spiritual
sensitivity and discernment about Dr. Iacono that I find
remarkable.
The lesion is made through the application of heat,
approximately 65o-70o C. for 20-30 seconds.
Finally concerning the atmosphere at Loma Linda. It is
fantastic. The best I have experienced at any hospital in the
U.S.
God bless you David and Aviva, and if there are any more
questions I can help with please do not hesitate to write. I have
put a brochure in the mail to you.
Pallidotomingly, yours
Don Berns <[log in to unmask]>
To: Anthony Foster I would be happy to talk to your friend about
the Pallidotomy. My phone number is 818-790-8812.
To: Joan Yarborough, don't give up hope, although "atypical PD"
of Parkinson's Plus does not respond as readily to the
Pallidotomy Dr. Iacono would be glad to see your husband.
To: Someone who asked if they could excerpt part of what I said
last month via Internet in a newsletter in Canada, that is fine
with me.
