Hi Melody,

John and I met a doc who does this procedure. He's does plastic surgery and wound stuff in addition to the micro-surgery he does. His link is posted below in case you want to read more about it/him.

John went to him in 2003 for a wound he had from the hickman central line in his chest that got infected. He did speak to us about the surgery for the PN but John was in no shape to undergo more treatment at the time. Luckily, John's PN has improved quite a bit since then and I don't think he would risk surgery at this point. For us, there's always a fear that it will be worse after the surgery and he been through enough in the past 7 years. I don't remember the success rate with this procedure but you need to ask them to break down what their statistics mean. How do they define success?

How many have 100% relief and for how long?
How many have had noticeable improvement?
How many have had no improvement?
How many had more pain/symptoms after the surgery?
What are the potential side effects/complications?


http://www.georgetownuniversityhospi...dy.cfm?id=1656

There's always a risk that comes with surgery so make sure you get the best doc who has done lots of these procedures successfully. It sounds like they can tell upfront fairly easily if Alan is a good candidate for this procedure. You can always go for a consult...there's no harm in checking (except for the $$$ you'll spend).