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Renee - In a message dated 97-03-03 23:47:18 EST, you write: > My mother 64, 9 years, is scheduled for either a Pallidotomy or a >Thalamotomy at Philadelphia Graduate Hospital to be performed by Dr. Munz. >Her symptoms in order of severity are as follows: extremely bad posture >(bent over >double), tremor, poor balance, difficulty swallowing, soft speech, painfull >joints, >freezing and dyskinesia. Thalamotomy is generally preferred for tremor. My understanding is that it won't have any effect on any of the other symptoms you list. Based on my husband's experience with a pallidal stimulation (very similar to a pallidotomy), and the best of my recollection about what the doctors told us: Pallidotomy won't, to my knowledge, improve posture, balance, soft speech, painful joints, or freezing. It could worsen speech problems. It will probably help tremor, but maybe not as reliably or completely as thalamotomy. It should, given good placement of the lesion, eliminate dyskinesia. In my husband's case, it also got rid of his swallowing difficulty. However, his speech did worsen after the surgery. His tremor, which was his worst problem, has mostly disappeared, but still shows up at times of stress. His dystonia was greatly reduced. It must be confusing when the two doctors disagree. Hope this helps. Margie Swindler