Improving at increments of .1 volts

So everybody wants to know... Did the operation work? Are you doing better? Do you feel better? The answer, like so many things in the Parkinson's world is coming slowly. But that answer seems to be yes.

How can I be almost a month down the road from the operation and just now coming up with that conclusion? There are a number of variables at play.

Variable one: the operation itself can cause a temporary lessening of symptoms. As the brain swells from the physical insult of the operation, it somehow copes better with the typical symptoms of Parkinson's: tremor, stiffness, slowness. This leaves the patient wondering post-op if it's the "Honeymoon" or the placebo effect or actual lasting improvement.


Variable two: Once your stimulator is turned on, you begin to cut back on your pills, replacing medication with stimulation. So for a while you grope around with gradually raising your voltage while lowering your dosage. It takes time to find the balance. Because I move the voltage up in tiny increments of one tenth of a volt it has been a drawn-out process to replace the ability to move that I lost when I cut down my medicatiion. But I'm getting there.

Variable three: The head cold from Hell. My wife, son and Step mother all came down to help out and support me during the operation. They were punished for this good deed with a never-ending head cold that Pam is still recovering from. I got it too, presumably as punishment for their punishment. When one is sick on top of Parkinson's it ramps up your Parkinson's symptoms above their usual level. Throw that in with variables one and two, along with jet lag and lack of exercise, and you're looking through some muddy water.

Thanks to time and antibiotics some markers are emerging that add up to progress.

1.) TREMOR: What tremor?

2.) FREEZING: Episodes rarer as stimulation finally up to "critical mass"

3.) SINEMET INTAKE: About half the pre-operation level

4.) JOE COCKER: Amount of bizarre unwanted movements has been greatly reduced.

VERDICT: Progress!