Dear Colleagues, In the next couple of weeks I and three other members of my local PD support group will have the opportunity to talk with a reporter from the local newspaper. It has a good circulation and the resulting article could get wider distribution because the newspaper is part of a chain.[and the reporter lives a few blocks away from me althought I've never met her] The focus will be on PD Support Groups and she may be able to do a "side-bar story on Pallidotomies and the development of my Video tape. I have a bit of experience talking with reporters and I hate being unclear about my facts. I would appreciate your help in clarifying a few points. First of all, when I had my first Pallidotomy [August 1995] I think there were 5 Centers in North America doing them. [The Toronto Hospital, Emory {Alanta], Loma Linda Medical Center [Calif], NYU Medical Center and my favorite, the Mass. General [Boston]. Did I leave anyone out? This is in 1995. According to a list I picked off The Parkinson Web there are now at least 26 Centers plus those outside N.A..Are there more? Does anyone have an up to date list of name and address? Quite the growth industry I would say. Once insurence companies began paying it seemed that the market expanded considerable. An interesting aside is to be found is that while the growth rate for new centers is increasing rapidly the more established ones may be slowing down the number of procedures they are doing. I know [that is, it is my impression] at the Mass.General they have turned down a few PWP they might have done in the past. [ And I can assure you that they were never in a rush...it took me 13 months of badgering them before they would do my second side ] There seems to be an increase in the complication rate mainly due to the less experienced centers. Am I way off base here?? On the issue of support groups I'm uncertain about who is our "Parent" organization. No one in my group seems to understand the relationship to the national organazations; one of whom seems to claim us. You will forgive me for my uncertainty but this is only my second year in a support group. One last question...I 've been considering doing a video on my support group but I can't find an example of the kind I would like to do. By that I mean I envision a story line that would include a section on the functions of support groups but also follow a couple of individuals through the year; one who is doing well and one who is not doing well. The latter could almost qualify as a documentary that could be used try and convince funding resources of our needs and as a training tool for medical types. Is anyone aware of a resourse that could give me a reasonable listing of videos? I've "surfed" the net and finding 1,345,671 articles does not help one bit, I've not yet learned to really refine my searches. Any thoughts would be welcomed. I know there are a couple of other questions floating somewhere in my holey brain but I can't pull them together. Next time. Thanks for walking down memory lane with me [bet you didn't know it was "BACKWARD WALKING" but that where memories are stored]. my best george [log in to unmask]