The Day of Reckoning

Today is it. The machine will at last be turned on and I will find out whether the last three weeks have been worth it or not. It is not if the stimulator works that worries me, when the doctors did the testing in surgery my tremor disappeared, it is the side effects that worry me. Will I have decreased control over my facial muscles? Or will my speech be distorted? Or will I feel dizzy?

The whole idea of the surgery was to increase functionality. Any of the side effects have the potential to decrease functionality. I don't see the point of replacing one disability with another one. I guess at the end of the day at some point it will be a trade off. How much side effect am I willing to put up with in order to relieve the tremor. From talking to other DBS patients it would be unrealistic to expect a total tremor reversal, so it comes back to what I simply wanted from it at the start, and that is to improve my quality of life.

Another thing to keep in mind is it can take up to a year to find the optimum setting for the stimulator. Today is the initial setting, as time goes by I should get used to the stimulator and new stronger settings should be reachable.

Right now I am feeling both excited and nervous. Understandable emotions for anyone in my position. I hope I get a result equal to or better than what I am expecting. I really hope I do. Right now all I can do is wait and see. Stay tuned and I will let you know how it goes. Stay Well:)