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Jane - Another question for you. Can you always tell for sure whether the stimulator is off or on? Dick had bilateral pallidal stimulations, and like many other pallidal stim patients, couldn't always tell whether he'd gotten his stimulator turned off or on. I didn't know whether it would be more noticeable with the STN or not. One hint we picked up from the first patient in the US to have the pallidal stim (Dick was the third) was to buy a cheap transistor radio. By turning the sound down as far as it will go and holding it up to his stimulators, he can tell by the static whether he's turned off or on. The static is much louder when the stimulator is on. If STN recipients also have trouble with this, the radio is an el-cheapo aid. For those who wonder what good DBS does if one can't tell if the stimulator is on - it just takes some time for the symptoms to show up when the stimulator is off. Also, some-thing about having the electrodes in the brain keeps his symptoms from ever getting as bad as they were pre-surgery, even without meds and with the stimulator off. Margie Swindler