 |
 |
You can check yourself whether the stimulator is switched off by holding a small transistor radio (set at the midwave band) near the wiring or the stimulator and you will hear a buzzing noise. If you don't hear it, the stimulator is switched off and you can turn it on with the magnet and check with the radio to see whether the magnet was able to switch on the stimulator. If you are not succesful switching on the stimulator with the magnet, the battery of the stimulator is probably dead and needs to be replaced. Greetings, Chris van der Linden, MD Movement Disorder Center St Lucas Hospital Ghent Ghent BELGIUM ----- Original Message ----- From: Dick Swindler <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 9:40 PM Subject: Benefits of DBS - Thanks to Drs. Koller and Wilkinson > Dear Listfriends - > > We've had a recent reminder of the benefits of DBS, and I wanted to share our > renewed appreciation for it with the group. Dick had bilateral pallidal > stimulations 4-1/2 years ago, and had a new lease on life. > > Occasionally (on about three different occasions), some outside source of > magnetism will turn the stimulators (or one of them) off, and we'll discover > just how much benefit he's receiving from the stimulators. About a month > ago, he began showing increased symptoms - more freezing, balance problems, > lack of stamina, "break-through" tremor, which he hadn't had in a long time, > and cognitive difficulties. A good part of the time he was in the stage of > "the lights are on, but no one's home." > > What was interesting is that he wasn't as able to detect the changes as I > was, as an outside observer. He knew he wasn't up to par, but gave me the > impression he thought his life was generally more difficult, and people and > events were conspiring to make it that way! I guess that's a nice way of > saying he was a bit on the cranky and impatient side! > > After a month of enduring this, we got an appointment to have his > stimulators checked. Sure enough, something had turned one of them off! He > was turned back on and reset, and "voila!" He was a whole new person. Or > the old person we'd "lost" when the stimulator went off. > > I think we have a tendency to take the improvement for granted, but the month > without just one of his stimulators functioning was a very good reminder of > how much we have to be grateful for. Thanks to Dr. William Koller, formerly > of KU Med and now in Florida at the NPF, and Dr. Steven Wilkinson, of KU Med, > Dick has good quality of life and has had almost five good years (with > presumably more to come) that he wouldn't have had without the surgery. > > Margie Swindler, cg for Dick, 55/18 >