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Michael, I'm 55 and was diagnosed with PD 18 years ago in 1981.I retired on long-term disability in 1989. By '93 I couldn't walk and my dyskinesia was so bad that I needed a five foot channel to move through in order not to hit anything. You talk about wanting to dance at your children's weddings. No reason that hope can't be fulfilled! In December '93 I had a right side pallidotomy and one year later had a left side DBS, pallidal stimulation. I was the first North American patient to have DBS. Now: 1) I take our three year old Airedale terrier for a 5 km walk every morning just after turning my stimulator on; 2) My meds are down 75%; 3) I can sail my Albacore dinghy single-handed again; 4) Last summer I took on my wife's niece and her husband in tennis and beat them; 5) Shooting trap for the first time last summer I hit ten clays in a row and hit thirteen out of twenty-five I admire your courage in coming out and applaud your testimony before the Senate Committee and your TV appearances for research funding. Yor candour and honesty have rekindled the flame of hope in many Parkinsonians. Thank you