https://www.parkinson.org/living-with-parkinsons/treatment/surgical-treatment-options/deep-brain-stimulation

I wish i would have known about this a year ago. My dad has PD but is in the late stages of it right now and in a hospice facility 

6 minutes ago, Cat45 said:

I wish i would have known about this a year ago. My dad has PD but is in the late stages of it right now and in a hospice facility 

The guy we know couldn't even feed himself, now he's out walking in the woods and driving his car again. It even made our today's papers front page.

1 minute ago, XCR1250 said:

The guy we know couldn't even feed himself, now he's out walking in the woods and driving his car again. It even made our today's papers front page.

Interesting, I'll talk to his doctors and see what can be done

Just now, Cat45 said:

Interesting, I'll talk to his doctors and see what can be done

PM sent

9 minutes ago, Cat45 said:

Interesting, I'll talk to his doctors and see what can be done

Good luck!

12 hours ago, Cat45 said:

Interesting, I'll talk to his doctors and see what can be done

Another PM sent.

Got an older bud that shakes like a leaf on the tree.  Would sure pass this on to him.  

12 hours ago, Cat45 said:

I wish i would have known about this a year ago. My dad has PD but is in the late stages of it right now and in a hospice facility 

Same situation here but he is just in super intensive care, not quite hospice.  Around the corner if things don't get better.

This is from this weeks front page in our local newspaper, hope it's ok to post this.

 

 

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Mark Kelsey’s Christmas gift

• By Kathy Hanson Staff Reporter
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  • 12 hrs ago
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You may not believe in miracles but Mark Kelsey does.

He’s walking normally again, having spent the last several years in a wheelchair due to Parkinson’s disease.

Sawyer County is familiar with Kelsey’s story. He spent 39 years in law enforcement before retiring in July 2017 as two-term Sawyer County Sheriff. It was a mean blow but Kelsey made the most of it, turning his disability into spray can art. But the Parkinson’s marched on through his body, leaving him unable to do much of anything.

 

“My world totally shifted. I had to have 24 hour a day care. My wife was getting up during the night. My mom or sister would come down during the day. My boys and my whole family got me through that time. That lasted for about nine months. It makes me wonder how someone without family or a support network could get through this. Parkinson’s not only affects you, it affects everyone around you,” Kelsey told the Record.

When his medications affected his breathing and his neurologist kept prescribing it, Kelsey decided to become his own health advocate. He and his wife, Marge, went to the University of Minnesota-Fairview to investigate a procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), not knowing if he would be a candidate for what he describes as a series of brain surgeries in which they implant two electrodes in the base of the brain and attach them to a computer/battery implanted in the chest.

After a consultation and intensive testing—movement, psychological, neurological, balance and coordination—Kelsey waited four weeks to learn he was, in fact, a candidate.

There would be three surgeries. Kelsey described the first one.

“The day of the first surgery came. That was an implant into the left side of my brain. I think a lot of people may be intimidated by how intrusive the surgery is and that you have to be awake for a good portion of it. That surgery took seven hours. Your head is actually in an immobile halo. They do an MRI to see where to drill the holes and which angle they want to put the electrodes in because they have to pierce through the brain to get to the base of the brain where the Parkinson’s signals are sent from.

“I stayed one night in the hospital to make sure there was no bleeding or infection. My wife, sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren were all there.”

Six weeks later Kelsey went in for the second surgery which was the implantation of the battery/computer into his chest and tunneling under the skin to hook up the wiring for the left side implant.

Another six weeks and there was surgery to implant the right side.

 

At this point there was still no change in his situation because nothing was ignited. He still required 24-hour care.

A couple weeks later they programmed the left side implant through the use of Bluetooth and they turned it on.

“I stood up and walked across the room. It was truly like a miracle,” Kelsey said.

Today Kelsey carries a remote programmer which allows him to turn the DBS system on and off and adjust the power of the device on the side that has been activated. The other side will be activated sometime this month, he said.

Kelsey can now walk and feed himself. He can drive again. He can walk in the woods. His speech has returned. The head and hand tremors are gone.

He still has some balance issues and sleep comes hard for him, but he is grateful.

“Today I look for things I can do and not focus on the things I can’t. I didn’t truly understand how blessed I was to have the friends and family I have. In many ways this has been a blessing.

The things you take for granted, like walking, and then getting that ability back again is a pretty profound thing.”

His sister, Holly, would agree. “I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t appreciate the simple, yet complex ability to put one foot in front of another,” she said. “I also got to spend a lot of time with Mark that we wouldn’t have otherwise spent together. I’d say we’ve always been close, but this time together was a real gift. And he is right, his sense of humor though the whole thing was just stellar. I never heard him complain and he was always grateful. To see Mark walk again is nothing short of a miracle. And I will add, he is so incredibly blessed to have Margie.

Her support, devotion and tireless care for him was truly incredible to witness.”