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For those who have had DBS or are considering it, I thought I'd pass along Dick's interesting experience. His condition has deteriorated lately, with much more freezing, falling, bradykinesia, cognitive changes, etc. He had his stimulator checked yesterday - it was fine, after more than four years in place. No battery problems, etc. The nurse-clinician in charge of programming simply input a couple of changes in the programming, and he was suddenly much better. At that point, the freezing seems to have stopped completely. He was also much more alert. The nurse was surprised at his extreme degree of rigidiity when he came in, but that, too, responded greatly to stimulator programming changes. He had bilateral pallidal stimulations, which target dyskinesia, but do seem to help tremor, too. (His tremor is entirely gone). Pallidal stim is not supposed to have any effect whatsoever on freezing, though. That's why we were surprised and pleased to find that the right programming put a stop to the freezing immediately. Some of you may remember my writing about the study Dick participated in three years ago, which proved by means of PET scan that he functions much better mentally when his stimulator is on. We were happy to find that a minor change in programming of the stimulator improved his mental alertness this time, too. We're thrilled to know that further modifications in the programming will probably continue to be of benefit as his condition progresses, and thought those of you who have recently had DBS, or are considering it, would like to hear of our experience. Margie Swindler, cg for Dick, 55/18