Brain Blog 2004 #6

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