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Dear List Friends.... As i promised last week, following is my report on my initial appointment with UCLA's Dr. Gerald Berke to see if I would be a likely candidate for collagen injections into my vocal cords in order to have normal speech restored to me, instead of this oh-so-quiet, wee little Parkie voice. According to Dr. Berke, I'm a perfect candidate for this procedure! YEA!!!! I was given a test injection of collagen in my arm, which I have to watch in case there's any negative reaction to the material (The nurse said there'd only been one, ever, in their office and I'm NOT planning on being #2!!!) <smile> The "test collagen" must be observed for one month before the actual procedure is undertaken. Since my daughter is getting married on May 25th, I asked could I have the injections at least a couple of days before that joyous event (it'd be nice not to have all the wedding guests repeatedly say, "WHAT" when I speak to 'em!), and Dr. Berke said "Sure... no problem." Sooooo... I have to call his appointment secretary first thing tomorrow and set up the date for the collagen injections with her. I'm shooting for Monday, May 19th.... Got my fingers crossed that THAT day's available for the procedure to be done and will know for sure tomorrow. By the way... a video was made of my vocal cords with me saying "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee e e e" (gasping for breath), and it was quite a revelation to find that I only had about 1/2 the use of the two vocal cords. THAT isn't considered to be a huge loss by Dr. Berke, but it's enough to warrant the injections. Also, he pointed out to me that the right vocal cord was working better than the left, which he felt was an anomaly, considering that I'd had a unilateral pallidotomy for my right side 2 1/2 years ago and my voice problem began months AFTER the pallidotomy. Since an existing speech problem is not positively affected by a pallidotomy, this might possibly indicate that nonetheless there ARE positive future effects in either halting or slowing down deterioration of future speech problems, OR it might just mean that I'm weird.. <grin> My next report on this topic will be after I get the collagen injections.. somewhere 'round May 19, give or take a day or two. For those interested in contacting Dr. Berke's office at UCLA, the number is (310) 206-6688. This procedure IS covered by Medicare. If you pay out of pocket, the cost is $500. The procedure is repeated initially in 3 to 5 months, and thereafter, about every 8 or 9 months. Barb Mallut (feeling like a guinea pig) [log in to unmask] ns.