Redbird, Peggy is at the BIO Convention this week, so I don't see her being able to reply until probably next week. The fact that she even went to BIO is amazing to me, but she is one tenacious PWP.
For your reading, until you are able to "talk" with Peg,
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Retinal Cell Implant Clinical Trial - I Had the Surgery
By Peggy Willocks, guest blogger
Why did I do it?
http://myparkinsonsinfo.com/blogs/re...ad_the_surgery
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From the GoTriCities Network: How far for a cure?
http://www.grassrootsconnection.com/..._stem_cell.htmEXCERPT: "In August 2000, Willocks became one of six people in the world to undergo an experimental treatment for Parkinson’s disease. At Emory University Medical Center in Atlanta, doctors drilled tiny holes in Willocks’ head and inserted spheramine, which consists of normal human cells that provide dopamine attached to microcarriers and is designed to deliver dopamine to the regions of the brain affected by the disease.
“I am convinced that I would not be as functional today if I had not had the surgery,” Willocks said. “The first year results for the group of six showed everyone with a nearly 50 percent improvement over baseline data. After three years, I believe it still runs at 40 percent and, remember, we are dealing with a degenerative illness.
“I went into it saying, ‘If it does nothing but delay progression, then I will consider it successful,’ and it has done that. Phase II is currently under way with plans to recruit 68 candidates for the surgery. Both sides will be done — I only had one side of the brain done — at multi facilities: Emory; Baylor in Texas; Rush [Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center] in Chicago; Tampa, Fla. This will be a double-blind controlled design, meaning half of the participants will receive the cells [spheramine] and half will not. Seems a bit unethical to me, but nonetheless it’s what the FDA requires.”