Friday, September 15, 2006
Good News for a Change
While talking to my husband today, who is a photographer, he mentioned he had received a call from my cardiologist's office. Someone wanted a team photo. It reminded me I had NOT received a call from their office giving me the reports of my Echo Cardiogram last month. I told him thanks, I would make the call myself. The news was not expected, but let me know how blessed I have been lately. The leaking mitral valve, which is mild to moderate, was actually BETTER! I said that was something someone...
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Quality of Life Matters, You'd Better Believe It
This picture was taken the day OF surgery, May 20, 1999: the doctor is Dr. O, the "mechanical engineer" who mapped my brain in order to have the stimulators perfectly placed! *********************************************************************** I was recently asked in a Medtronics Ambassador letter about my quality of life with Deep Brain Surgery (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD) before and after. This was my response: ************************************************** Boy, I could go on and...
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Monday, September 11, 2006
Post 9/11 Parkie Patient at the NIH
I wrote a Haiku poem to commemorate the victims of the attack 5 years ago that robbed us of our innocence. I had to be at the NIH for testing on my brain devices and how they help my Parkinson's. I had just about booked my flight when this happened. My 18 year-old son said, "Mom, you are not going to fly!!!! I will drive you there, but I'm not letting you get on a plane." I had put him through enough. He's only known a mother who had always had to deal with Parkinson's. He was so nervous when I...
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Saturday, September 9, 2006
A Fleeting Moment
I have been corresponding lately with a woman who is considering the same kind of surgery I have been corresponding lately with a woman who is considering the same kind of surgery I had for Parkinson's disease. She told her kids if she got batteries installed for her PD, she'd be running around like the energizer bunny. They liked the idea! They said that would be cool!! I told her: Oh, but you WILL be!! If I could just describe the feeling of not moving all the time; you get so used to the...
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Thursday, September 7, 2006
Crown Chakra Meditation
This is from Sylvia Browne's first book, God, Creation and Tools for Life. I am blogging about it here because it is used for healing. This meditation could apply to the spiritual side as well as your relationships. Crown Chakra Meditation This is an extensive and powerful healing meditation that can also be used for remote healing. As with everything, the more you use it, the more powerful it becomes. Usually, when you do a prayer or meditation, you put your hands upward to receive grace....
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Thursday, August 31, 2006
Nuke My Brain! (Please)
We have arrived in St. Louis and I should be sleeping now instead of blogging. I'm participating in an NIH study of the Deep Brain Stimulators and how they work with Parkinson’s. Tomorrow IS Pet Scan Day. I have done this kind of study once before. I will be off medications and be "turned off," having to lie perfectly still (yeah, right) on this narrow little board while they place a wet masque over my face which then quickly hardens (I haven’t had that experience for a while) and forms to the...
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Family Member have Parkinson's?
Is Parkinson’s disease (PD) hereditary? It used to be a question/theory that got little credence since 50% of those with Parkinson’s could not recall a close relative who had ever had it, but the question remained, “Were they predisposed to the disease by a mutated gene? Were there external environmental triggers such as pesticides or blows to the head resulting in injury to the pituitary?” The explosion in the research field of genetics is coming up with new discoveries every year, especially...
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Monday, August 21, 2006
My Brain, On Drugs (Prescribed)
DBS part II I was lucky to qualify for this surgery. I had two gentlemen with PD visit me the week I was home, waiting for Part 2 to the surgery. Neither of them qualified. Not all patients with Parkinson's or other movement disorders are good DBS candidates. First of all, age and pre-existing conditions aren't as important as mental state. The team start with a thorough neurological and psychological exam, making sure the original diagnosis was correct and ruling out signs of clinical...
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Friday, August 18, 2006
Brain Surgery? Piece of Cake!
The prognosis on my internal battery today was great! The news is that the battery should get me to Turkey month (November) just fine. They will check it then and change it out before it dies. That is similar to having a stroke. One side of your body quits moving. I went through that for two weeks a couple of years ago. I did find out that I somehow managed to get that one side to "turn off," probably by getting too close to a magnet or magnetic field (like in Bestbuy.) I usually get a little...
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I May Be Running Out On One Side!
The battery which controls the left side of my body may be dying. It just went out two days ago when my fingers on my left hand were straight and would not bend. I noticed because I was typing away at the keyboard. Last night my left hand just tremored. I was still "turned on" but I wonder if the power is weak and running out. I'm getting a lot of tingling in that hand. I am having it 'emergency checked ' today by my programmer this morning at KUMC. She thought it would hold out 'till...
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