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Congratulations, Bruce, on getting some of your life back. You must feel great after all the previous "happenings". Keep up the good work. Jo Ann On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 16:41:19 -0400 Bruce Hollenbeck <[log in to unmask]> writes: > On July 16th I had deep brain surgery at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC. > The operation was performed by Dr Ron Alterman and his team. The > result has been spectacular, exceeding my best expectations. > > I was diagnosed in 1988 at age 48. The disease has steadily > progressed to the point where just prior to the surgery I had severe > dyskinesia, periods of freezing, serious stiffness, very poor > balance, unintelligible speech, and stooped posture.By late > afternoon, I was having a very hard time getting around even with a > walker. I was unable to ride my bike anymore. > > A week after the implanting of the electrodes (one on each side of > the brain), I went back to Beth Israel, and had the neurostimulators > implanted in my upper chest. A week after that procedure, I again > returned to Beth Israel to have the neurostimulators programmed. I > was off my medication and could only get around in a wheel chair. > During the programming (which took about a 1/2 hour) I really didn't > feel much different.I stayed seated for about 5 minuets. Then I had > to get up. Much to my surprise I was able to stand and walk and > talk. I was a little tired for a couple of days, but I continued to > improve. The dyskinesia was gone. I could speak fairly clearly. My > balance was back, and last week I began riding my bike again! I feel > like a new man. > > The operation is no picnic. The halo wasn't as bad as I anticipated, > but was bad enough. For me, the worst part of the operation was the > drilling of the two holes in my skull. There was no pain, but the > thought of someone opening my skull was frightening.However, Dr. > Alterman and his team did a great job. They kept me informed > throughout the operation and were very competent and professional. > > If anyone is contemplating the procedure and would like to discuss > my experience, feel free to e-mail me. I must say that given the > same circumstances, if I had to, I would readily do it again. > > Bruce A. Hollenbeck > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn