One Year After DBS Surgery

It is now March, 2009, a year after my Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery. The results have lived up to the expectations of my doctors. I have many more hours of on-time than before; my medication is reduced and I'm only taking meds 6 times a day; rigidity, gait, balance are all much improved. Sleep continues to be a problem as does compulsivity, but I've always been an insomniac with anal/compulsive behavior. My handwriting would make a chicken feel proud.

I'll have my year's checkup in March after we return from a Caribbean Cruise with my sister, Mary. Prior to surgery, I couldn't have attempted a cruise of any sort. Since my surgery, we've taken two granddaughters, ages 5 and 6, to Disneyworld for a week, and have made several trips out of state. I continue to be able to drive in a small radius around our house.

The magic of our British hosts who took us around England and Scotland two years ago and were the catalysts of my decision to pursue surgery continued. This past fall, Pam and Douglas spent a week with us in Washington, DC, and a week at our house in Georgia. They both live their Christianity and I watched their behaviors with great interest. Pam related to Nancy that she was involved in improving the condition of children's health in the Chernobyl area of Russia. She, in fact, has visited that area and continues to be active in making sure the children have medicine and adequate health care. She also is involved in making sure that Jews of the world have access to the Old Testament of the Bible. In her words, Jews are God's chosen people and should have God's word available to them. She wears the Star of David as testimony of her respect for the Jewish people. While in Spain on a vacation, She wore the necklace and experienced being thrown out of shops just because of that Star of David. She expected this and actually wanted to understand how it felt to be rejected just because of your religion. That example and many others led me one evening to tell her just how much she had meant to my life. I accepted Jesus and have become a Christian. All of those years of agnosticism are over.

A month later, we went about the business of finding a Church where we felt comfortable. It's an Episcopal Church with the same liturgy as the Anglican Church to which Pam and Douglas belong. It's a Church with a tremendous social outreach to the poor, sick, disadvantaged, and it suits our need perfectly. The priest, Father Certain, is someone who walks the walk in such a human and compelling way. His time as a POW in Viet Nam and the post traumatic stress syndrome he has experienced since that time make him someone I can identify with and appreciate. He has struggled just like I have.

So, what began over a year ago has led me to a life I never anticipated. My physical health is better and my spiritual health is just beginning, but makes me happy. Just knowing that the Big Guy, Jesus, is there for me helps lift me up "on eagle's wings" every day. Chip, our deacon, assured me the other night at a special service that I would be cured in this life or the next. Not a bad deal, right?

God bless you. d