HANK'S BRAIN BLOG (#6)
WELCOME
Hello and welcome back to Hank¹s brain blog; the place where I try to
retain my sanity by sharing what¹s tumbling out of my newly hard-wired cranium.
It¹s now been 5 weeks since the ³big dig² and my recovery is pretty
much on pace, although it¹s never fast enough for me. Many of the temporary
side effects of the surgery are clearing up, I¹m starting to feel less pain
and more stamina. In fact this past sunday Lisa Carter (visiting SD from
CHI with hubby HK) and I enjoyed a brisk 3 hour hike on the beach at Del
Mar down to Torrey Pines Reserve and back. Can the Sierra Nevada be far
behind?
CRAZY?
I ask myself daily was I always this crazy? Do people who survive
life-changing experiences really have changed lives? My life hasn¹t
especially changed, but I suspect that I¹m different nonetheless. For
example: did I always have such a low regard for red lights in left turn
lanes? I mean what¹s the point of just sitting there when there¹s no
oncoming traffic? Civil disobedience has long been a staple of my makeup,
but it used to be based on principle, not convenience. And then there¹s
times when I¹m just plain out-of-it. Yesterday at the California Pizza
restaurant I sat down at the bar, ordered a salad, and proceeded to the
rest room. I walked in to find no urinal, so proceeded to do my biz in the
stall, wash my hands, and exit, when I came upon a very surprised woman attempting
to enter. That¹s when I finally realized it was the womens¹ rest room.
I did however, recover nicely by assuring her that I had completed a thorough
inspection, and that the facilities were top notch. Top Notch! Can you
get arrested for something like that? Am I a hazard to my ownself? Or have I
always been?
A TOAST!
Saturday night was the first social occasion since my stimulators were
activated, and the public debut of my steady right hand. Eating in a
social situation and holding a filled glass of liquid in the company of others
has always struck terror into the heart of us tremor sufferers. So at dinner
with Howie, Lisa, Laurie, Doc Delsman, and Vinnie joining me, I proposed
my first ever (sober, that is) steady-handed toast to good health. Oh what
a feeling! That¹s been on my wish list for many years, and I intend to
enjoy it often from here on. In the Republic of Georgia, where I visited a
number of times building radio stations in the late Œ90s, the Georgians go
for 3 hour meals at which they designate an official toastmaster to stand up
every 5 minutes or so and launch yet another drunken toast to one of your friends
or relatives. Not to worry if you run out of candidates, they¹ll run
through your entire list several times without blinking. I must have consumed
a lifetime worth of awful orange soda (and they gallons of wine, brandy,
grappa, and vodka) in my 3 trips to Tbislisi. I¹d love to go back and
offer a toast, but those guy must be dead by now...It reminds me of a similar
drinking ritual we used to participate in on a weekly basis back in
Milwaukee. We called it bowling.
THE SYSTEM
My newly installed deep brain stimulation system was turned on for the
first time last week and the results so far are mixed. After several sessions
of programming and re-programming, my right side seems to be much improved
without substantial side effects. The left side however, is a different
story. We tried and tried to set the power and amplitude high enough
to remedy the tremor, but each time encountered side effects, most notably
electric shocks in my arm and hand. The surgical nurse and I agreed to
"give it a week" on low power and try again. So, I¹ve got real relief on
my right side, and temporary partial relief on my left with still unanswered
questions. Meantime I¹m enjoying the little victories as they happen,
like making toasts and using chopsticks!
That¹s all for now.
Cheers,
Hank
