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Jennifer.. As I've said to you in our personal correspondence, I've got nothing but good to say about Loma Linda and Dr .Iacono and his staff. They gave me back a life which I'd thought was gone forever. This is NOT talking "personalities," because each of us is different, including Dr. Iacono... This is just pure medicine. For ME, this was a wonderfully positive experience. Still is... I still have PD, 'cause as we know, there's no "cure,' but it's "livable" now, and progression seems to have stopped since the Oct. 24, 1994 surgery. We never know how interhuman relationships will be and if there'll be a bond or it'll miss entirely. In the case of having someone operating on one's brain, well, that's prollly the sinfle most horrific thing any one of us'll ever in our lifetime experience. The fact that the operation itself is painless is immaterial. Psychologically this is almost out of The Twiilight Zone!! EVERYONE'S tempers are short, and as surgery approaches, fear is rampent.. plus of course, we all are feeling pretty darn rotten by the time we opt for neurosurgery! It's our last hope in most cases! Each of us, and also our family members... are a bundle of raw nerves as we face this event.. Things said and done to us are out of our control and we're at the mercy... literally.. of strangers, in a strange place. Brain surgery, once we decide to go ahead with it is an absolute act of faith. That, coupled with the training and experience of the surgical team is what makes for a successful operation... NOT "personalities." NO ONE in the medical field today anywhere in the entire world has the experience in performing a pallidotomy that Dr .Iacono and the Loma Linda Team has. No one. None.. Still, if his personality is important to you, well, he bounces off the walls much of the time, in my opinion. <smile> He's not particularly calm or placid, but rather dramatic and has a "twinkle." He looks much younger than he is (good genes!) and if you're looking for a dignified elderly gentleman, he ain't necessarily that. My daughter commented, "WOW! HE is a FOX!" And I'd have to agree <grin>. Finally, I'd say that you MUST remember that this is a deeply personal experience for each of us... both our PD AND the pallidotomy. Each of us is a unique individual who's suffered from this monster in a highly personal way. It's not the same for any one of us, and the physician, the surgery, and it's results won't be either. Ultimately, it gets down to making a decision amongst several excellent surgical teams, and then saying "YES! GO AHEAD!" Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Disease - Information Exchange Network on behalf of Jennifer Coggins Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 9:49 PM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: FW: Loma Linda Palid. Hello All, I've been lurking on the list for quite awhile and have learned quite = allot. I would like to thank you all for participating and sharing = experiences and knowledge. My father is considering having a PVP at = Loma Linda and I wonder if anyone on the list who has either been a = patient at Loma Linda, or is affiliated with the Loma Linda staff, would = like to comment on some of the negative posts that have been made to the = list recently. I would really like to hear from some of the staff about = these accusations. Thanks, Lew Coggins "Nerka" on the Undernet