First, thanks to my wife for allowing me to dictate yesterdays post to her. I never would have been able to get it out there without her. Well, yesterday was a very busy day for me, so bare with me, because today's post is probably going to be a long one. I was woken up at 5.45am which didn't really bother me because I couldn't sleep very well anyway. The nurses were keen to get me ready straight away as I was the first patient of the morning. So I had my shower with some special anti-bacterial lotion, and once I had dressed myself in the highly fashionable hospital garb, it was time for that very long trolley ride to the OR.
Once I got to the OR the first people I met were the anaesthetist, Dr Nikki Tan, and her assistant Luca. They were both very friendly and reassuring which was great as I have to admit I was really quite nervous at the time. I have been in the situation waiting for surgery before, but this was different. Having a doctor sticking pins into your brain is a scary thing to think about. It is like they are playing with your very soul, so the friendly assurances were extremely welcoming.
After a short wait the surgeons assistant came in to give me a hair cut and then Nikki started running the sedatives in through my IV and when I woke up my hair was completely gone and Prof Bittar was attaching the stereotactic frame. I must admit that although local anaesthetic had been injected all over the process was quite unsettling. There was a lot of pressure like having my head stuck in a vice, and since I was asleep for the head shave I wasn't quite sure why they didn't keep me asleep for that. The local anaesthetic felt weird as well. Although I couldn't feel anything I also could not frown or make any facial expressions above my eyes. I guess that's what botox would feel like, so remind me never to have it.
With the frame now securely in place I felt like Frankenstein as he was awoken by the doctor for the first time. It was extremely heavy, and uncomfortable on my neck as there was uncomfortable gap between my neck and the pillow. However, before I had too much time to think about it the OR was evacuated as we all headed down to radiology so I could have a CT scan. The trip was long and I certainly got some interesting stares from passers by. The CT scan took very little time and then I was escorted back to the OR by the same entourage of about ten people. Once there the sedatives were ramped back up and I fell back to sleep.
When I woke back up the frame had been wrapped in plastic to isolate the top of my head and they were ready to start testing the first implant. I kept hearing the doctor describing the position of the implant from the target and when he was happy with the position they tested it out. They tested the left side of my body first which meant that the first implant went in the right side of my brain.
For the testing, my neurologist, Dr Richard Peppard, was also there, and instructed the surgeon what level the stimulator was set to. The first time they fired it up I felt a tingle in my fingers then, amazing. My hand stopped shaking. I can't explain what happened, it was simply remarkable. My hand was still and I had no idea why. All I can say is that all I could do was smile and laugh. I felt overjoyed, but as soon as I started to become accustomed to the feeling they turned it off and started to work on the other side.
The right side of my body wasn't quite so simple. When they turned the stimulator on my tremor did stop, but my voice became very slurry and the right side of my face started to droop to the point where I couldn't open my eye. This feeling was really quite scary because I also became very dizzy, but as soon as the machine was switched off the side effects subsided. I started to feel rather agitated at that point. After the great results on the left side I wanted to get the right side done and the frame off me head, but hey played around with different depths and frequencies until they were happy with the results. Prof Bittar then offered me the choice of having stage two of the surgery done there and then or waiting a week or two. I wasn't bothered which way he went, but one of the frame clamps was attached where he would run the power line to the battery, which increased the risk of infection slightly, so I left the decision to him and he decided to wait. After which it was back to sleep and the next time I woke up I was in recovery.
In recovery it felt like the stereotactic frame was still on my head which was quite sore. Other than that I felt fine, so after an hour of constant monitoring it was back to CT for one more scan (this time without the entourage of medical staff) before returning back to the ward.
So, how did I feel on return to the ward. The main emotions I had were both relief and worry. I was relieved that it was all over and I knew that at least on the left side I was going to get a really good result. Worried because my speech was still slurry and I hope that this wasn't going to be a more permanent side effect. Fortunately, over time this has subsided and at least the hardest and most dangerous part is over now. In my next post I will let you all know how I am going recovering. I have also attached a few photos for your amusement. Until next time, stay well:)
Photo of myself wearing the stereotactic frame
The incision
No comments:
Post a Comment