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Dear John, What courage and humor you have. That was an excellent description of your surgery, though downplaying the trauma of your experience. Talk about 'quietly soldiering on' -- you're the poster boy!! Anyway, thank you for such a prompt and thorough update, including the Medicare information. We are cheering you on and waiting for the initial results of the tuning. Bravo, my friend!! My very best regards, Kathrynne John Cottingham wrote: > > 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. > > [log in to unmask] > Change your Parkinsn email settings at: > http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com > Click the Parkinsn Mail Management link > John Cottingham -- Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD Author: "Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease" "Constipation and Parkinson's" -- audiocassette & guidebook "Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy for Parkinson's disease" & Risk Assessment Tools "Risk for malnutrition and bone fracture in Parkinson's disease," J Nutr Elderly. V18:3;1999. http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/