The recovery time from the battery placement surgery was a little more uncomfortable than I had expected. The surgeon placed it under the skin just below the collar bone, so when I drive, the seatbelt puts pressure on it - minor issues. The battery is around 5cm by 5cm square, is rechargeable and should last 15 years. The speed that technology moves these days, I would guess that the batteries have become smaller since 2019.
Before DBS I was taking 16 tablets of 25/100mg carbidopa/levodopa per day. After the DBS was activated, my gross motor skills, especially on my left side, were normal, though I still had other fine and non-motor symptoms to deal with. I finally settled on 4 tablets per day. Note that the LDopa tablets were my main drug. I never had success with dopamine agonists, etc.
Since the surgery, I have added Gocovri and Ongentys (1 capsule each at night in conjunction with 1 extended release 25/100mg LDopa tablet) to my daily regimen along with the 4 tablets of LDopa throughout the day. Note that I am a micro-doser when it comes to LDopa tablets. So, when I say 4 tablets, I actually break them in halves or quarters, so it becomes more doses. But that works for me. In the early years, I followed the neurologists standard dosing schedule and felt overwhelmed by the side effects of the various meds. The side effects were worse than the PD symptoms.
I had no problems recovering from the hernia recovery.
I definitely think that having the DBS surgery prior to the hernia surgery helped with the recovery. Parkinson's makes every ache, pain or illness worse, so anyway that I can reduce or eliminate a Parkinson's symptom helps me both physically and mentally.
Note that fine-tuning the DBS programming is key to its success. I had multiple programming sessions during the first year until the neurologist found the "sweet spot."
Emma, thanks for reading it.
The recovery time from the battery placement surgery was a little more uncomfortable than I had expected. The surgeon placed it under the skin just below the collar bone, so when I drive, the seatbelt puts pressure on it - minor issues. The battery is around 5cm by 5cm square, is rechargeable and should last 15 years. The speed that technology moves these days, I would guess that the batteries have become smaller since 2019.
Before DBS I was taking 16 tablets of 25/100mg carbidopa/levodopa per day. After the DBS was activated, my gross motor skills, especially on my left side, were normal, though I still had other fine and non-motor symptoms to deal with. I finally settled on 4 tablets per day. Note that the LDopa tablets were my main drug. I never had success with dopamine agonists, etc.
Since the surgery, I have added Gocovri and Ongentys (1 capsule each at night in conjunction with 1 extended release 25/100mg LDopa tablet) to my daily regimen along with the 4 tablets of LDopa throughout the day. Note that I am a micro-doser when it comes to LDopa tablets. So, when I say 4 tablets, I actually break them in halves or quarters, so it becomes more doses. But that works for me. In the early years, I followed the neurologists standard dosing schedule and felt overwhelmed by the side effects of the various meds. The side effects were worse than the PD symptoms.
I had no problems recovering from the hernia recovery.
I definitely think that having the DBS surgery prior to the hernia surgery helped with the recovery. Parkinson's makes every ache, pain or illness worse, so anyway that I can reduce or eliminate a Parkinson's symptom helps me both physically and mentally.
Note that fine-tuning the DBS programming is key to its success. I had multiple programming sessions during the first year until the neurologist found the "sweet spot."