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Update: My brother (Dale 42/6) has just come home after having a unilateral pallidotomy! The results are amazing! :-) I'm getting carried away here, I'm sorry. :-} The surgery was performed by Grossman,Krauss, Lai <sp?>, Jankovich <sp?> et al @ Methodist in Houston. The results have been especially surprising because his PD is considered "atypical" by these MDs and they went to great lenghts to warn us that this procedure was completely untested in this situation. The "atypical" moniker was applied for various reasons; Primarily because his tremor was completely unresponsive to Sinemet and everything else they threw at it. This team of MDs has done forty-three UPDs, but all of these were on patients who had benefited at least somewhat from drug therapy. Dr. Kruass rated the outcome "good to excellent" and inferred that this could change the elligibility of some other "atypical" patients. Dale's symptoms were numerous: severe tremor (right hand), severe pain (right shoulder), lesser tremor (left hand), stoop, shuffle, slurred speech, balance, dyskensia (Sinemet) etc. His hope was for the return of some utility of his right hand and maybe a reduction of the shoulder pain. What he got was astounding: full "normality" of the right hand (dexterity, writing skills), absence of right shoulder pain, improved gait, normal speech and more. While I know this sounds idyllic (and may sound like '20/20'), I'm not glossing over any negative points; If there are any ill effects, Dale has not noticed them. Of course, the surgery was only four days ago and there could always be something around the bend.... Yesterday he began taking a new med. I believe he said it was "trihexapheno-something", and as you can tell, I jotted it right down! :-} Two days post-op he had cranial swelling which has now subsided. His only complaint now is that he's exhausted and that he's had enough of my questions. I'll keep buggin' him anyways, and try to update the list on his progress every so often... I'm still in awe of the power of medicine, technology, and God Almighty. I'm curious about other atypical parkies and whether or not anyone has been declared inelligible for UPD because of this classification while meeting other criteria ( age, general health, etc.) ?? Thanx for listening. R L Slaughter <[log in to unmask]>