Onwards and Upwards - Part 3

My final two doctors visits were to the neuro surgeon and the neurologist. The surgeons visit was a fairly routine post op visit. He just wanted to see the stimulator in action and check there were no complications, which luckily, there weren't. I also got the green light to exercise, swim, drive and fly! I have my freedom back which one does not respect until it is taken away. I see him again in twelve months.

The other visit, which was to the neurologist was far more entertaining. Finally, I think I have broken the back of my programming conundrum! This has been a great step forward to me as the last six weeks have been rather frustrating and my impatience was growing. Now, not only do I have a the opportunity to vary my setting a little around where the doctor feels I have the best benefit, I have two completely different settings.

They are labelled A and B. A, gives me the maximum tremor control I can hope for, but along with that comes the lack of co-ordination, slowness and unsteadiness that I have had great issues with. So when I am sitting down, eating, drinking or writing etc, it is the setting of choice.

On setting B I have only limited tremor control, but the co-ordination problems are almost non-existent so I can pretty much do everything that I could before with just a little less tremor. This is great for when I'm up and about like cooking in the kitchen, driving or at the shops.

After this setting adjustment I finally have felt like the whole process of the surgery has definitely been worth it. I feel as though I have a better quality of life, and although there will be other setting adjustments to come, the back has been broken, so look out world here I come!

Next time it will be back to the hospital reviews. Until then, stay well:)

Colds and Tests

Since the last time I blogged about my DBS a few things have happened. First, I went and played patient to a few wanna be neurologists who were being examined, second, I had another adjustment of my stimulator, and third, I have had the cold from hell.

First, the medical exams... The truth is they are not fun. I let a bunch of strangers do a medical exam on me which include scraping the bottom of my feet with a stick and sticking me with pins. So, why do I do it? It is a chance for me to give something back, and if examining me can make me these people better doctors, it can only help me in the future. If you decide to do one of these training days, don't worry either. This is the fourth time I have done one, and I have been diagnosed from everything from Parkinson's to Motor Neurone Disease. This time I was the star attraction with my new DBS as no one had seen one before.

As for the adjustments, I felt this time Mary worked very hard to find a better setting, which was somewhat in vain as Richard came in fifteen minutes later and gave me an entirely new setting. They called it the bi-polar setting. The charge, instead of just emanating outwards, is attracted to the lead directly above, so the charge radius is much smaller. This means that a much higher charge is possible. Currently I am set to 5.2 on the left (bi-polar) and 3.2 on the right (normal). I have had a sleight improvement on last week, but the side effects are worse and the adjustment to them takes longer.

Overall, I guess that I am happy with the way things are progressing, I just wish I had more control over the process so I could figure out the best setting for myself rather than having to wait three weeks in between adjustments.

However, last week I did have a scare that made me question the validity of the whole process. Yes, that was my nasty cold. Everything was worse. I actually felt worse than before I had the surgery and I started to question whether everything was worth it, and even had I made things worse with my decision.

Now normally I don't let a cold affect me, and the sniffles etc. didn't really bother me. But the increasing tremor really did, especially after such a life defining surgery. I wish I could give you some tips on how to cope with this, but I can't. I coped badly. I leaned heavily on my wife, did not feel like doing anything but sit on the couch and feel sorry for myself. Next time I have a cold with similar side effects I will give you some tips on how to cope.

Fortunately, I am through the worst of it and I am feeling better and luckily, my tremor has improved (I drank the second half of a cup of tea today with one hand). Next time I will get back to my hospital reviews. Until then, stay well:)