Thursday, March 19 - Post Op

Hank - Tuesday 03-17-09

Dad and Susan Heath - Neuro-surgical nurse DBS specialist

Being fitted for the "Halo"

Post Surgery - 03/19/09
Three laps around the ICU!

The hot spot to have breakfast and dinner.

Hi all,

Today was a relatively quite day, except for us girls getting in trouble with the ICU dude (head nurse). Mr. Crabby pants didn't like us walking into the ICU because Mom and Sue cruised right on in without making the "required" call to let them know that we were there. We then had to go to the "naughty room" (waiting room) to wait for his call saying Dad was ready for us. Dad was actually in the MRI tube checking to make sure that everything was in the proper place.

The Physical Therapist was in and had dad up and doing laps around the ICU hall, three times around and going strong. Everyone who has seen him is really astonished on how well he is doing and how strong he is.

He also had a 3rd year intern come in for some testing, he is going to present dad's case tomorrow during his clinical time. He did all of the same neuro testing the other doc's did, which we are quite certain that Dad has every bit of it memorized because we don't think we could have passed the tests as well as dad has. He has a remarkable mind. We stayed with him for about 4 hours waiting for the results from the MRI, which of course didn't come during our time there.

Of course as soon as we went out Susan H showed up. They moved Dad out of ICU into a regular room and he was told that tomorrow (Friday) would be the day that Susan H. programs the stimulator for the first time. She will also teach all of us how to use the "wand" that turns the stimulator on again if it is accidentally turned off by any magnetic fields.

Dad has been extremely lucky with the nursing staff. He has another great nurse on the 2nd floor. We all have been treated really well by all the staff with the exception of the resident DR. (personality of a rock) and Mr Crabby pants ICU dude who was mentioned earlier, even though we think we bullied him into not bugging us. (we were only supposed to be in there for 10 min. at a time and only two of us at a time, we were all three there for 4 hours!!)

We went back to tuck Dad in after his meal and left him happily watching the MN-Texas basketball game. We are sure that he wasn't too happy that MN lost!

Just to let you know we always bring him back treats. When we left tonight he was happy eating Ghirardelli chocolate and a sleeve of Girl scout thin mints that Sue brought. He was in heaven.

'til later,

Marilyn, Colette and Sue

Surgery Day - March 18

We are please to announce that all has gone well with Dad's surgery.

We (Colette, Sue and Mom) made it to dad's room at 5:30 this morning to hang out with Dad before they came to take him to get ready for the big day. At 6:30 a.m. the fun began. They took dad to recovery to start the process. We said our good byes and good lucks just before they attached the halo to dad around 7:15 and didn't see him again until 4:00.

First step was to attach a "halo" that had been created for him. It looks like a metal cage around dad's head. The purpose of the "halo" to hold his head still during surgery and to have coordinates to go by when they insert the contact wire. Once the halo was attached they did a MRI mapping of his brain. It was then on to surgery. The first part of the surgery is drilling a couple of holes in the skull. One right on top and one on the right side just above the temple. A lead contact wire is then inserted into the top hole and guided down about 3-4 inches to the "sweet spot". This is approximately in the middle of the head level with the eyes and ears. Once they think they are near the sweet spot they wake dad up and have him talk and do motor skills exercises to determine if they are in the right place.

At this point, about 1:15 p.m., Susan H. (the neuro-surgical nurse) came out and said Dad did fantastic and that the first part of the surgery went great. Then they put him under for the second half of the surgery which is placing a lead wire down the side of dad's neck and planting the battery pack for the stimulator in his chest. (the battery lasts for 3-5 years then he'll need a new one) That only took from 1:30-3:45. We were able to see Dad at 4:00 and he was sitting up in bed, still kind of dozy but talking clearly and nodding off at times. Mom was a bit concerned because dad still had tremors, but the unit has not been turned on yet and he had not had any Parkinson's med's at that point.

Susan H came back in and said he was an over achiever as the nurse had Dad sitting up in a chair and getting ready to eat dinner. Tomorrow they will do another MRI to see that all the leads from the brain to the chest are where they are suppose to be. After this they will determine when they will turn on the stimulator, either Thursday or Friday. Susan also stated that she is going to wean Dad off his Parkinson's med's by 25% at a time and she hopes that he will be down by 40-50% soon. They need to go slow with it because some of the Parkinson's med's actually work like an anti-depressant. They don't want dad going through withdrawal. The slow "weaning off" of the med's also will help find the fine line for the new dosages of his meds.

They wanted to reiterate that this surgery does NOT cure the Parkinson's but hides the symptoms. His right side has recently start to act up on him. The surgery that he had today will not take care of anything that happens on the right side, so we will be watching this very closely and if needed we will get him in soon to take care of the right side.

Sue and I were both really fortunate to have the time and ability to be with both Mom and Dad during this time. And we want to thank everyone who thought of and prayed for Dad and Mom today.

Sue & Colette

Tuesday, March 17 - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Testing Day!

With Dad not a very good sleeper and Mom an even a worse sleeper, Sue and I were up most of the night. Dad wanted to get up at 3:00 for the day. Mom was up every hour starting at 2:00. Final wake up time for everyone was about 5:00

We got to the VA by 7:45 a.m. and waited for an EKG on his heart until 8:00. that took all of about 15 min then we had to wait for the Anesthesiologist appointment at 9:00 to once again go over med's, past surgeries, walking accidents,etc. Thank God for the cheap rolls they gave us for continental breakfast because that is all we had until after 2:00. Well, except for Dad, he had breakfast @ 10:30 and lunch by 1:00. So he was happy as a clam!

Then on to meet the head neurology nurse, Susan H. again. Good news - there is a bed available and dad is able to be checked in. At this point all is still good to go. Once in the room the line up of doctors starts. First is an intern who did a very extensive exam with counting backwards, remembering 3 words 5 min. later, hand eye coordination. Med's past surgeries, walking, accidents yet again. Then the charge nurse came in to admit him, more questions.

Susan H. came in with a binder of pictures on what will happen before, during and after the surgery. Then the intern shows up again with with a resident doc, Dr. Bar, who pretty much went over the same tests that the intern did. This Dr had the bed side manner of a rock. He left both Sue and I with the feeling that he didn't think that Dad is bad enough to have the surgery. In fact, we find out the resident says he isn't sure dad has Parkinson's. It may be a muscle disorder! He said he would be back at around 5:00 to talk...at this point it didn't sound good. Note that dad has been having a really good "on" day. He is walking great, hardly any tremors, mind is sharp as a tack.

Mom, Sue and I went to dinner at Mel's Drive In where they filmed American Graffiti. Good hamburgers, malts and root beer floats. Back to the hotel so mom could take a short nap. Sue and I were able to catch up on our emails from work and home. Heading back to the VA Sue called dad to tell him we were on our way. He informs us that 5 doctors have just been in and he isn't sure they are going to go ahead with the surgery. Once we get to dad's room he is comfy watching TV and dinner arrives for him. Man that guy is eating good!

Finally Dr. Glass, who is one of the main DBS surgeons shows up with the resident, Dr. Bar, Once again they go through the same tests. Dr. Bar is still negative about the surgery, but Dr. Glass indicates that it is ultimately up to dad. He would be fine doing the surgery or not. He does state that if dad doesn't do it now his "window of opportunity" will pretty much be closed due to his age. We have some time to talk about it before Susan H comes back for a decision. Dad says he wants to go ahead with the surgery. If it helps stop some of the tremors and will decrease the med's he his taking he is all for it. Dr. Glass had said the med's should be able to be decreased by 50-60%. Susan H. comes back in shortly after 8:00 p.m. and after a brief discussion dad tells her he wants to go ahead with everything.

So...we will be back at the hospital at 5:30 am. Dad is scheduled to go in at approximately 6:00 and will hopefully be in recovery sometime between 2 and 4. We will send an update tomorrow. For now, say some prayers!

Love to all, Marilyn, Colette and Sue

Monday, March 16

Well, after a couple of reschedules it is finally the day to hop on the planes and go to San Francisco. Hank and Marilyn were scheduled to arrive around 12:30. Sue and I were to be there just before them so that we could meet them at the plan.

As luck would have it both flights were one hour late. We were able to get one pass to go in and meet mom and dad so Sue went in to help them off the plane. We had a small car rental snafu, they wanted to give us a two door convertible. Nice, but not what we needed for four people, a walker, four suitcases and a couple of backpacks.

Then straight to the VA, with only one missed turn. Since we were late getting in Dad was late for the appointment with the head neurology surgical nurse, Susan H., but she was nice enough to wait for us. We went over med's, past surgeries, walking, accidents, etc Everything was still good to go. Then it was down for a chest x-ray and blood work.

For dinner we stopped at a restaurant with an ocean view. Dad had a nice prime rib dinner to get him ready for for Tuesday. Back at the hotel was a bit crazy. There was a small bug crawling in the bed when dad flipped the covers back... It was much to large for a "bed bug" so Sue went to the front desk to ask what it was... "it comes down with the rain" is what she was told. At that unbelievable answer she just laughed. So as we all turn in for the night Dad lays his head down and he chucked "it came with the rain Huh"? So we all had another good laugh to end the evening.

Colette & Sue

Parkinson's

As many of you know Hank was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in March of 1995 at the age of 65. Luckily dad was very aware of changes that were happening and was diagnosed in the early stages. With the help of medication he has been able to lead a very full life with little to no restrictions. As time has passed, symptoms have changed, medications have changed and it is now time to take a new look at how help dad with the symptoms of his Parkinson's.


After two rescheduled dates, Feb 11 and March 10 we have a new date. On March 18, 2009, if all goes well, dad will undergo DBS, Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. Just what does this mean? In short, a small pacemaker type of electrode will be inserted into the right side of dad's brain. This will help his left side symptoms, tremors, etc. There will be a "lead" wire that is fed down and into his chest for future "tune-ups" as needed.

To read more about DBS you can go to: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/deep_brain_stimulation/deep_brain_stimulation.htm