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At 16:30 21-06-97 -0400, Marjorie Moorefield asked: >Could all of you who have had surgery this year report >to us , your electronic family, your condition at this time. Margaret had a bi-lateral pallidotomy on 3rd April , almost 12 weeks ago. The post-operative MRI, confirmed the correct placing and dimensions of the lesions which involved not only the palladium, but the ansa reticularis as well. The operation has been very effective in relieving the disabling sinemet-induced dyskinesias Margaret was suffering. It has also reduced much of the muscular rigidity and there has been a pleasing improvement in her fluidity of movement. Tremors have not been worrisome either before or after the operation. Margaret can now get into a motor car unaided. She can turn over in bed, still with some difficulty, but this is better than having to lie flat on her back in the one position all night, and she now uses a wheeled Zimmer frame instead of the 'hoppity' model she used to have. Although she still alternates between her wheel-chair and the frame, she tends to use the frame more than previously There has been no improvement in her sense of balance, however. Margaret's switching from 'on' to 'off' has been softened, but she is still as dependent as before, on her medication which, apart from a 100 mg increase in daily Sinemet uptake, remains essentially unchanged. There has been no change in her inability to write legibly, but immediately after the operation, Margaret's speech underwent a noticeable improvement in both volume and diction. This proved short-lived though, within three or four days it became more slurred than previously. Dribbling was already noticeable before the operation, but it too is now somewhat worse. We are pleased with the overall result, not perhaps, as pleased as we had dared to hope, but the virtual absence of dyskinesias alone, is a big plus that is far from canceled by the speech debit. Regards, Mark (CG for Margaret, 65/28 yrs) Mark Atyeo Email: [log in to unmask] Telephone: 61 - 6 - 286 2606