On September 12, 1996, I had a pallidotomy at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center. The day before I was given a visual evoked potentials
test. With electrodes on my head and strobe lights flashing in my eyes,
they recorded the electrical activity of my brain responses to the light.
This would be used in the operation to map the position of the probe in
relation to the optic tracts, to avoid injuring the latter and causing
blindness.
The procedure itself involved first putting on the brace, a kind
of helmet made of rigid metal. Four doctors surrounded me and fitted it
over my head, then they injected a local anesthetic at two locations on my
forehead and two more on the back of my head. Next they tightened screws
at those positions !very! tight, thus attaching the brace immovably to my
skull. I could swear that I could feel the bone crunching, but I was
assured that it was attached to my skull surface, not into the bone. I
felt like the man in the aluminum mask. Once the brace was attached I was
given an MRI scan, which only took about 20 minutes. Then I had to wait
for an hour while they examined the pictures and did their computations to
figure out exactly how to position and insert the probe.
When they were ready to begin I was moved into the operating room.
There were about a dozen people there; surgeons, neurophysiologists,
technicians, anesthesiologists (light sedation only),who knows what else?
My eyes were covered and I could not see anything except the strobe
flashes. I felt the penetration of the top of my skull; it was less
traumatic than screwing on the brace. There followed about an hour during
which the probe was positioned and the target tissue identified and
heat-killed. Over and over I was asked to identify light flashes, or to
raise my arm, clench my fist, touch two fingers together and the like.
Sometimes one or both legs would start moving, or suddenly stop, or I
would feel a tingling sensation. I was alert and carried on an interactive
conversation with the surgeon. The surgical team talked among themselves
constantly, but it made little sense to me.*RX-22, reduce polar
coordinates. 445-98, increase position by 1 degree. Set phasers on stun. I
canna change the laws of physics, captain.* Whatever they did, worked. My
dyskinesia, which had been making my life hellish, is gone except for a
tiny residual trace that is no practical problem. I feel less stiff and
more easily mobile. They suggest that I may feel even better after a week
or two as the lesion heals. In the meantime I feel more optimistic than I
have in several years.
Bob Raikow ([log in to unmask])
