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Hi Barb Thanks for welcoming me to the PARKINSN list. You asked me to tell you a bit about myself so here goes. I live in Eastbourne in the UK. I am 54 and was diagnosed with PD fourteen years ago. About eight years ago having been totally dissatisfied with the management of my PD at my local hospital I got myself in to see Doctor (now Prof.) Niall Quinn at the Institute of Neurology in London. Prof Quinn is one of the acknowledged world experts on early onset PD. To cut a long story short he enrolled me on an experimental programme of fetal tissue transplantation being carried out by Prof Lindvall at the University of Lund in Sweden. I had two transplants into the putamen, my left side in April 93 and my right side in September 94. It took a few months before any effects were apparent but with the gradual impovement in symptoms I have been off Sinemet for two years. I can now manage with 0.5 mg Pergolide and 100 mg Amantidine three times a day. So perhaps this is a message of hope to those of you who are not so lucky as I have been. I guess my PD wasn't as bad in the first place as some peoples (although my UPDRS scores were quite significant). And I still have PD but I work full time and my quality of life has improved considerably (and my UPDRS scores are a good deal lower). My fingers still sometimes don't work quite as they should on the kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkeyboard but that's a minor irritation:-) In my case I would say the transplants had been a success. It would be better if the fetus could be eliminated from the procedure either by cloning tissue or by using tissue from animals but I'm sure that will come. Here's hoping Chris Wilkinson