Good morning to the cold cold air! Yes I meant to write "cold" twice. I so love this weather. Today is Tuesday December 8, 2020. As usual, after eating breakfast and taking my first dose of Rytary for the day, I was propped up in bed for a bit waiting for Rytary's side effects to disappear. Ever since I met with my NeuroSurgeon last Thursday, I have been in deep thought about the DBS procedure. I am feeling pretty fearful at the moment. I am trying not to think too deeply about it, because if I do, I will go into panic mode and come up with every reason to not follow through with the procedures. I am keeping myself as occupied as I possibly can. I am slowly going through my closets and giving things away that I do not wear anymore. Unfortunately, many of them have just been squished in the closet and forgotten about. Each piece of clothing has a special memory attached to it. I am definitely having fun sorting through each item. Great memories are flooding back, as I think about the "old days".
In the late morning (11:45 am), I had a TeleHealth meeting with my Movement Disorder Specialist. I have been wearing the PKG watch for a month now. Because of all the data collected, my Dr. now has a crystal clear picture of how I am doing from minute to minute on a daily basis. He is very pleased with what he sees regarding my symptoms (or should I say lack of symptoms). This means that the meds are working very well. I no longer have to wear the watch, as he has all the data he needs now. The one thing I will miss about the PKG is that it has an alarm that buzzes when it is time to take my next dosage of Rytary throughout the day. I do have an Apple Watch which I recently purchased, so I am going to see if I can program it to remind me every three hours to take my meds.
After looking at and discussing the data with my Dr., I wanted to talk about the DBS procedures. He reiterated everything that the NeuroSurgeon had said. I actually had one more question that I forgot to ask the team at Stanford last week. I wanted to know if I would be confused after waking up in the Recovery Room, and he said "Absolutely Not" and that they were not going anywhere near that part of my brain. What a relief to hear this! I also asked him how long I would have to wait until I was able to resume my Pilates practice as well as intense stretching. He said 6 to 8 weeks. I think I will wait the entire 8 weeks just to be safe. He also said that he does not want me to become sedentary and that walking in the neighborhood would be ok. I have worked so incredibly hard to get to this point in my recovery that I am sad I have to stop for a bit. But I also realize that it will only be temporary and that I will come back even stronger than before. Next step for me? Calling the Surgery Scheduler tomorrow, since I have not heard from them. To be continued.....
👉🏻 And..... Here we have Exhibit A. The PKG Watch in all its Glory 👀
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