Well the excitement is mainly over as the result of my DBS Wednesday night.
Very few neurosurgeons experience the same surgery that they perform day in
and day out. Imagine what would have happened if they hadn't brought me out
from under the anesethetic for a consult...they wouldn't have known the
leksell frame can choke the patient if the head is elevated on the table.
Of course there was a downside, the scrub tech had to resterilize me and
the head frame after all the adjustment and the versed settled me down for
a restful sleep.
I didn't know it but I was sedated all day from the morning when they
fitted the frame and the surgery time. And imagine I was worried about not
being able to smoke..:))))
Imagine how exciting it must have been for the Medtronics salesman to
actually turn one of the devices on while it is in a patients head...even
though I don't remember the outcome. Before all the stuff started happening
they had me do a spiral on a pad of paper with my writing hand (left) I
really couldn't see it looking out of the mask.
I remember the neurosurgeon complaining about the resident who he had
trained three years ago having trouble remembering how to cut a burr hole.I
also remember looking in an operating room on my way past on the gurney and
saw a big puddle of blood on the floor covered with a sheet. It didn't
bother me at all since I watch scifi all the time and expect to see that
sort of stuff.
I can symphasize with the ladies who have breast augmentation. routing the
wiring through the pectorial muscles and moving is painful. I find naps to
be very necessary at least in the short term.
The tuning technician will start tuning my device in a week or two right
after the neurophysiologist measures my balance and again after the initial
tuning.Previously, I looked like a chicken hopping around to try and
maintain my balance standing on one foot.When I go back to Australia, I am
gonna have a letter from my doc stating the reason I can't walk heel to
toe...and it isn't drinking..:)))
Allan my tuning technician prefers to wait 6 weeks after surgery before
tuning PD patients to allow time for the brain swelling to subscide. Any
tuning done before that may work at the office but not work when you get
home.If you are dyskinetic they like to adjust the meds to undermedicate
you preop so when they turn them on...stable results can be achieved in a
relatively short time. Allan describes tuning days at the ponderosa as
being more like support groups....those with teeshirts...helping those
without to earn them..:)
I guess I will always have to remember my serial number XR00086970N. I
guess that means I am the 86,970th member of the DBS "Hole in the Head Gang".
Costs:
From what I understand, hospitals are able to bill Medicare for the most
technical cranial surgery which would by its nature require ICU services
which aren't needed for DBS and they absorb the cost of the devices.
If you have a medicare supplement policy it may cover the $785 Medicare
part A deductible for the hospitalization. My plan A doesn't so I will have
double that ammount as my portion of the cost when both sides are finished.
There is a catch 22 for neurosurgeons and hospitals in Medicare Part A. If
the hospitalizations are less than 60 days apart...it is considered a
continuation of the same treatment and while paying for one side, the other
side would not be covered. I'm really appreciative I qualified.
The two studies I am in will determine if outpatient DBS will be as
effective as the more tedious procedure that uses microelectrode recording.
From the patients standpoint, 1 hour on the operating table sure beats 4 to
6 hours.
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John Cottingham
