The Year of Living Medically

Years ago I enjoyed a film called "The Year of Living Dangerously." It was the story of a young journalist who landed in the unfamiliar country of Indonesia during a time of turmoil. The things that were familiar were suddenly not available, new rules guided his decisions, and he did the best he could under the circumstances. Not a bad description of our year...substituting Fort Worth for Indonesia! We recently realized that with the upcoming week in Fort Worth, we will have spent more than a month on site at Cook's over the last 16 months. While we have great affection for Adam's medical team and nothing but praise for the care received, it just wasn't the "vacation" that we had in mind for this year. Certainly a learning experience, however!

Since the DBS surgery in March, Adam has returned to Fort Worth three times for adjustments to the settings on the brain stimulator device. He also worked through several weeks of physical and occupational therapy (PT & OT). There were positive signs along the way, some improvements of muscle tone and flexibility, but then eventually, we were pretty much back to where he was before the surgery.

Dr. Marks felt that it would be worth having Adam come back to town, be admitted to the rehab unit (we've not stayed there, before), and do a series of adjustments to the DBS while having the on-site PT and OT staff make assessments of his muscle tone. Since we'll be there anyway, they may run a couple of other tests, do a follow-up neuropsych exam, and possibly build a new leg brace. They may throw in a Botox treatment on his leg, too...since years have passed since they last tried that approach.

It should be a busy week, and hopefully a productive one!  Dr. Monkey is making the trip with us, and we'll try for some new photos.