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Forrest - Thanks for forwarding the articles.  Im sorry you missed some of
our earlier postings on the net which detailed my husband's pallidal
stimulation surgeries at the University of Kansas.  He had one side done in
late '95 and the other in early '96.  Just wanted to correct some
misimpressions left by the article.

In a message dated 97-04-02 23:28:44 EST, you write:

>  Zgonc was Minnesota's first pallidal simulation operation and, as far as
>university neurosurgeons know, and only the third in the country. The
>others were performed at the University of Kansas, one of two FDA approvbed
>sites for tests of the procedure.

My husband (Dick, 52/15) was actually the 3rd in the country to have the
procedure.  I believe KU has now done at least 15 pallidal stimulations.
  Last October we had a reunion at our house of four of the first five
stimulator recipients.  It was quite interesting and very helpful to all the
patients.  We have also spoken to several others on the phone, both before
and after surgery.

I'd like to credit Gary Shikles of Lawrence, Kansas, the first stimulator
recipient, with the idea of using a small radio to tell (by the static
produced) whether his devices are on or off.  We should also credit Diane
Smith, the nurse clinician who programs the stimulators at KU, with passing
the information on to Medtronics.

If you missed previous postings about this subject, you also won't have read
that Dick was tested last summer in the PET scan unit of North Shore
University Hospital on Long Island.  There is a group of well-known
researchers, including some who flew over from Italy, who are interested in
the electrical activity in the brains of the stimulator recipients,  with the
devices both on and off.  They were astounded and excited about the results
they saw, and were able to prove and quantify how much better Dick's mental
function was with the stimulator on.

Sorry for such a long response, but thought if you were interested in the
subject, you might like this additional information.   We are always happy to
correspond individually with people who are interested in this procedure.
 Feel free to contact us at:
[log in to unmask]            Margie Swindler  (cg for Dick, 52/15)