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List Friends: During all the activity connected with my Pallidotomy last Friday -- and in the midst of all your kind prayers and expressions of good luck -- several very important people were left out of our discussions and congratulations. Dr. Samuel J. Hassenbusch, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Surgeon, Neurosurgical Pain Management, Dept. of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Gage Van Horn, M. D., Professor of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas. Roger T. Rizzo, RN, Clinical Director, Gamma Knife, Pallidotomy, EMU and MSI Programs, Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas. Shirley M. Houston, W.I.F.E., Primary Wage-Earner, Driver, Friend, Companion, Partner, Lover and Caregiver for PWP Stan Houston. Dr. Hassenbusch was the surgeon who zapped that nasty right-brain globus pallidus in my head last Friday after nine hours of standing in the operating room. As far as I can tell, he did a superb job of placing the lesions. Dr. Van Horn --- my neurologist --- did the "mapping" using microelectrodes that he sunk into my brain. I was drugged, but I still could hear the sounds of my brain over the operating room's speaker system. Evidently, everyone in the room also could hear me snoring over the speakers each time I driffted off to sleep. A female voice to my right kept saying, " Mr. Houston, please quit snoring. Wake up and stop snoring." Roger Rizzo was my escort for a marvelous guided tour of the ceilings of Herman Hospital. (What else are you going to see if you're wheeled down endless corridors lying on your back.) He also did an excellent job of coordinating all the activities and facilities involved in my surgery. Shirley Houston came through the ordeal with flying colors (pardon the cliche'). I could not have done this without her, her love and her suppport. The last four months since my back injury have been rough for her. When she left her job each day, she never knew what she would find at home: Stan The Invalid, or Stan The Normal Person. (Say, Stan, I hear you ask, isn't STAN/NORMAL PERSON an oxymoron?) As the day for the palliodotomy drew closer, the atmosphere in our home grew more tense. Then, about two weeks before the surgery, we had a session with my therapist in which we both were finally honest about our fears, our expectations and our anger. That session seemed to be a turning point for us. After that day, we seemed to be in tune with each other. By the time the surgery day arrived, I felt confident about everything and I believe Shirley did, too. At the hospital last weekend, Shirley took charge, making certain I did what I was told to do by the doctors and nurses and that I didn't jump my young blonde nurse Sunshine. Since we arrived home on Saturday, she has expertly (and willingly) cleaned my head wound and changed my bandage each day, reminded me to take my drugs, watched out for any episodes of confusion and faulty short-term memory, and held my hand in the middle of the night to help calm my fears over a lingering headache. My love to you,. Shirley, for being you and for being there for me. Stan Houston(54/7)