I remember my very first computer. It was 1978 (no old guy jokes now)… I was just finishing up college, and I had a few ‘leftover‘ scholarship bucks to spend (most unusual for a poor college student – long story). For quite a while I had been looking at (and drooling over) a newer style computer called the Commodore PET ...
This is going to be a short entry today detailing what happened to me last week. Looking back now, it's kinda funny; although at the time it didn't seem so, let me tell you. But the title today says there is something that DBS doesn't do ...
Well it is now all over. The surgeries anyway. And the unit (Neurostimulator) has been turned on. And I am happy to report that I am no longer experiencing dystonia (no more cramping feet) and most of the stiffness is gone! Plus, I have gone from taking Levodopa every 3 hours down to only 4 times a day! Less pills, less motor symptoms - yes, I have to call this almost science fiction type surgery a success!! ...
It's somewhat strange to think about. Right now, I have two wires implanted deep within my brain; I can feel the wires that are coming out of my brain under my scalp (since I haven't had the neurostimulator installed); yet I don't feel or sense the wires inside my brain at all ...
As I mentioned in Part 1 of my series on DBS - if you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have wires placed into my brain, I would have laughed out loud and exclaimed, 'No way, man, never in a million years!' But again, we change as things around us change ...
I've often wondered what people think when they hear the term Tai Chi for the first time. "What is that? Some kind of new drink?" No, Tai Chi has nothing…
If you're a Parkinson's patient, you might have seen or heard the term DaTscan™ . But most people probably have never heard of such a scan (and really, I hope…
I always thought of myself as a pretty smart old programmer (ha!) - so I was used to being open to new ideas and technology. But when I first read about Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) , my immediate thought was, "No way, dude, NO ONE is messing around with the insides of my brain!"...
A really big welcome to readers of my new blog, Deep Brain Thoughts! This is my first blog and, not being a big time writer, is a little bit scary. But I’ve been through scary stuff before and made it through fine, so I am sure this will be the same (although a few hiccups along the way are to be expected!) ...