Hank's Brain Blog - Back in Brno for Batteries

4 April 2013

Greetings from Brno and welcome once gain to Hank's Brain Blog - continuing reports about my brain defect "familial tremor", the mechanical/electrical solution, and the experience that comes with it.

In 2004 I was equipped with a DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) electrical system of wires implanted in my brain and connected to battery-powered devices implanted in my chest. The system works well, and I'm really delighted with the results providing me the ability to function normally, and thus a much better quality of life. You can read more about it in my previous posts on this blog.

Normal expected life of the batteries which power my DBS system is 3-5 years. That is of course, when all goes well, which it did for the first 5 years. Unfortunately, in 2009 at my first battery replacement, I received a defective unit, which was reinstalled in 2011, but again with problems. So now that defective unit is to be replaced along with the matching battery unit (one for each side of the brain) here at St. Anne Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic.

This being my third trip to St. Anne, I am more savvy now about the Czech healthcare system and the regimen here on the neurosurgery floor. Last time I spent a memorable 10 days in a room with seven other guys who snore. This time I've upgraded to a private room and plan on actually getting some sleep at night :-) The nurses and doctors all remember me, and it seems I'm in good hands here. Too bad the food is also the same, as evidenced by the attached pic of last night's dinner offering :-/

In addition, I'm also encountering the same holes in my Czech language vocabulary, searching to understand words for "urinate" and other unmentionables...

So, here we go again. Surgery is tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be here to report
some good news. I look forward to see you on the other side :-)
Cheers!
Henry