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Hi Folks: I found the following article whilst surfing the web. I thought I'd share it with the list. Also, if any of you do decide to respond to this message, please do so by omitting the body of the article in your reponse, since it is fairly long... Monday, November 24, 1997 Section: SPORTS Page: 05C By Bruce Bennett/News-Tribune This is the kind of story a journalist loves to write. It follows a Touchback piece last April about Jim Maertz, a former Duluth East and Minnesota-Duluth hockey player now afflicted with Parkinson's disease. Maertz underwent a rare cell transplantion procedure Oct. 6 in Los Angeles. Six weeks later, he's home and working out twice a day, well along the road to recovery. ``At first I couldn't go five minutes on the treadmill,'' he said from his Minneapolis home. ``Now I'm up to 40 to 45 minutes. ``I'm not all the way back, but I'm getting there. I was in the hospital in Los Angeles for a week, then came back to Minnesota. I couldn't go directly home, because my family initially was unable to care for me. ``There are times (in the recovery period) where you slip into a sort of paralysis. But that's past now. I was in an extended care facility for a month and came home last week. Things are really looking up.'' Maertz, 48, was a defenseman for the Greyhounds before moving on to play at UMD between 1968-71. After a brief fling in minor-league professional hockey he went to work in the dental supply industry. About 2- 1/2 years ago his health began to fail and he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, a debilitating disorder marked by tremors and weakness of the muscles. There is no known cure for Parkinson's disease, but the innovative cell transplantation has delivered some remarkable results and fostered considerable hope among it's victims. Maertz's health was declining fast earlier this year when he discovered the availability of the very expensive and somewhat controversial procedure. The catch: It wasn't covered by health insurance. A friend, former Minnesota gubernatorial candidate and Duluth native Mike Hatch, led a fundraising effort that generated $65,000 to cover the costs of the surgery. Hatch said 90 percent of the contributions came from Duluth and the surrounding area, where Maertz's roots run deep. ``Is this unbelievable or what?'' asked Maertz's mother, Shirley Kirsch of Duluth. ``If you'd have seen him last summer you'd know how bad off he was. I just can't believe this has happened, that he is doing so well. It's really great, such an unheard of thing.'' The surgery lasted a full day, Maertz said. ``They told me the first two to three months would be difficult, maybe downhill, but after that I should begin to improve,'' Maertz said. As his workout routine suggests, he's beating the timetable by leaps and bounds. He met a woman who underwent the procedure two years ago and is 95 percent back to normal, he says. That's the carrot at the end of the string for Maertz. If you know his bulldog will, perseverance and drive, his recovery isn't all that surprising. Maertz is not back to work yet. ``I'm supposed to avoid stress,'' he said. ``But my medications have been reduced and I'm eating right. That helps. I want to thank you (readers) for all the help and support. It has been a difficult and emotional time for me and for my family, but the future is bright.'' Jim and Kathy Maertz and their two children, Parker, 11, and Lauren, 9, live at 6832 Morgan Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minn., 55423. He has heard from many of his ex-teammates, opponents and friends in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Drop him a note to cheer him along the road to recovery. This may be the comeback of the year in the game of life.