Brain Surgery

Man has it been a long tim since I have been on this. This past year has been a crazy one but I had the time of my life. After graduation (my last post) Aaron and I moved to Franklin, TN (where I am from). My dad, as many of you know, has Parkinson's Disease and was going to undergo brain surgery for deep brain stimulation. We decided that since we had a year before Aaron started school, which no one knew at the time, we would move there and help with his recovery. So we packed up our little apartment and made the trek down south. We decided to live with my parents to help save money for when Aaron potentially got into school and also to help with the care of my dad. A month or so after we moved there I started to work for the hockey team, the Nashville Predators, and Aaron went on an interview to 5 school (pretty much all on the east coast) and 1 was in New Jersey. The day after I started with the team he got a phone call from UMDNJ (Rutgers) saying that he was accepted into the program and it started the next August. I was like HOLY CRAP- this is really happening. We didn't tell anyone for MONTHS that he got into school fearing it would look bad at both of our jobs. In about February or March we started to tell people that we would be leaving.

The 2 months of surgery and months of recovery were really hard on our family and especially my dad. While I describe these surgeries keep in mind that these all used to be done in 1 day but are now done over 4 weeks. Also keep in mind that 3 news crews were following my dad and family around documenting each surgery to raise awareness to others.
He has his first surgery on November 29th. They drilled 4 holes into his head and placed markers in there. This was a prep for the surgery that was to come a week later, the major and most difficult surgery. The next surgery was December 6th- a really tough day. My dad didn't get much sleep the night before because he had to go off his medication. He was in pain and his hands were very rigid. That morning was pretty tough watching my dad try to get ready for the hospital. He couldn't even sit comfortable. My mom and I helped his dress because he wasn't even able to pull a shoe on. We got to the hospital around 7 am and news crew lights were bright. He had given news crews full access to this process but on this day the hospital wanted to respect his privacy so they wouldn't allow them past a certain point to film. We got him checked in and about an hour later they took him back. Then it was a waiting game. We had about 5-6 hours to kill so I headed to the arena to catch up on a couple things (there was a game that night and my accounts were very needy) and then headed back to the hospital. Everyone in the office was shocked to see me there but I would have rather been busy then just sitting and worrying. When I got back to the hospital more people had shown up. Valerie Overmyer, Sissy and Suzanne Weiss, and another lady whom I can't remember her name (her husband had died from Parkinson's. They sat there with us till the doctors came out to give us the okay. Vanderbilt was also great with us. They set us up in this Atrium on the floor my dad would be staying on. It was very peaceful and away from everyone else. Doc Davis, my dads neurologist, came in prob 5 hours after he went in and said everything went great. The thing with this surgery was he had to be awake the whole time to be sure the were in the right spot. He had to talk to them and they videotaped the whole thing. Doc and the nurses said he was a star patient. He was cracking jokes in the operating room and even throwing a ball with Doc. He, my mom and I stayed in the Neurology ICU that night. My mom was emotionally and physically exhausted so I am glad I stayed because my dad in no way wanted nurses to help him. In the middle of the night I woke up to him trying to get out of bed with all these wires still attached to him (mom slept through the whole thing). That night Stacy Case from Fox 17 came by and it was a very emotional interview. My dad got the feeling of what it would be like with the device turned on. They have to let the brain heal for 2 weeks before they can turn in on officially. Dad of course made us all cry. Like I said before there was a game that night. Barry Trotz came by after the game to say hi (we snuck him in). We went home the next day and all slept it feels like forever. People stopped by throughout the next couple of days to drop off food, candy, and even came by to help with walking our dog.

The next surgery was December 13th. This surgery was to implant the battery into his chest and connect it so that the device would actually work. Once again we all packed up and headed to Vanderbilt. Upon arrival we saw the news crews waiting. This was an outpatient procedure so he was in and out within 3 hours. The implanted the device and boy was dad ready to go home when he woke up. It was Aaron and my turn to go back to the PACU and see him and he was not happy. He kept trying to tear off his oxygen and the sheets and said he was fine and ready to go. Aaron was really good and calmed him down (Aaron worked at the Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital). We had to get some fluids in him to be sure it would sit well in his stomach. Once he got the go ahead we got him dress and wheeled in down to the car. I headed to work and everyone else headed home.

The last and final step was on December 20th. They actually turned on the device. My mom, Aaron, Brad, Amanda, and Madalynn were all up early to be at Vanderbilt by 8. We all waited while dad did his interviews and then headed back to the doctors office. 1 news crew from Vanderbilt was in there filming and would then distribute to the other crews. My mom wanted this moment to be private but my dad said no- we are doing this for others. The activation of the device took about an hour- although on TV it seems like 10 sec. There are different programs and markers the doctors have to go through to get it just right. At one point the doctor made my dad not be able to talk or see- it was really scary. Brad and I looked at each other like is this going to work. I started to freak out and Brad kinda got a worried look on his face. In the end Doc looked at us and said he's done. Dr. Konrad, the doctor that actually performed the surgery, was in there to witness it. He said take a walk down the hallway (also keep in mind that he was off his medication again and we went through a difficult night before. He hadn't slept the night before and was exhausted). He took a stroll down the hallway like he had taken his meds. it was amazing. He had this smile on his face like he had his old body back. We were all so excited and thrilled. Then came time to do interviews with each individual news crew. He got really emotional and cried a little (also from the exhaustion). He did a dance down the hallway and off he went. I went back to work. The team was playing in Washington the next day and so I called to update them that everything went great. Brandon asked that we film something to show to the players and their dads (it was the fathers trip- that was also hard too on my dad because it was the first one he didn't get to go on). At the time we didn't know what it was but we knew something was different. This is when we learned that my dad had emotional lapability (excuse the spelling). It's when you cry and laugh at the same time. The device was turned up too high and his emotions were running 500 miles a minute. When I told him the team was to see him it kicked in. He cried and laughed and cried some more. We got through the taping (with a joke, tears, and a dance) and sent it to Washington via Brandon. The team watched it and Brandon said there wasn't a dry eye in the room. The players also sent a video back to my dad which was really sweet. A week or so later he had the device turned back down (which he wasn't happy about) because of this lapability. He then over the next several weeks had to manually turn it up slowly. He was ready to turn it up too fast so my mom had to hide the remote.

The next several months were filled with doctors visits and adjustments and tweeking the device. Within that time we had my grandfathers passing and my dad being inducted into the Portland Winterhawks hall of fame so we flew to Oregon twice in 3 weeks.

This past year was really hard to sit and watch but I am glad that my dad decided to get tested for DBS. He has such a better quality of life because of it and I would encourage anyone thinking about it just go and get tested. There is only a small window for when you are truly a candidate for the surgery. The news casts were so successful that Vanderbilt had to hire 3 additional people just to field calls inquiring about DBS surgery. That is what my dad's mission was and that is what his foundation is about. I love my dad and I am so glad he made such a wise decision.