My Journey Of The Year 2021

The Journey of the year 2021, what an amazing journey it was. One can imagine how significantly amazing it would have been if some one in sixties considered it as a landmark year. The year started like any other year, routine new year celebrations, greeting everyone near and dear, excitement not knowing what for, deep down in the heart you knew it would be like any other year, adding an year to everyone’s life.

For a parkinson’s patient like me, it was also scary as year after year the disease progressed , debilitating and bringing in lots of constraints to the life. I was onto 5th year after the diagnosis of the disease and particularly this year I had noticed that my symptoms were getting aggravated and the dose of medication that was used so far was not working anymore. As the disease progresses, one needs stronger dose of medication and then there is maximum dose that can be taken and nothing beyond that. The side effects of the medication are very unnerving. I had come to know that there is a treatment for this ailment, which does not cure it but relieves lot of associated discomforts improves the quality of life several notches upwards. But considering that it is a major Neurosurgery there was fear and reluctance. Through her network, my younger sister came to know of an expert surgeon in this field, we personally met one of his patient and heard lot of praise about the Surgeon. Finally I gathered the courage to go meet the Doctor personally. He explained everything about the surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) . The procedure involves implanting electrodes into the brain on both sites during which process the patient is given only local anaesthesia, as he/she has to interact with the doctor to give feed back about the position in which the electrodes are optimally working. During the procedure, the patients head is held immobile using a metallic device, so that it cannot be moved even by few millimeters during surgery. After this process the electrodes are connected to a battery which is implanted below the collar bone and through this battery the electrodes are operated and give the impulses to the brain.

All these, meeting the beneficiary of the procedure, doctors consultation and decision making took about a month, in October 2021 and on 23rd November 2021, With the full support of my family including my brother, sisters, daughter, son and Husband I gathered courage to face the surgery and finally underwent the procedure which lasted from morning 9.00AM to evening 6.00PM. Though everything sounded all right before surgery when I was explained the procedure, only when I actually went through the procedure I could realize what it was! A nightmare! The silver lining was that the operation was successful. One thing is very true. No pains, No gain. I would encourage others suffering from Parkinson’s to pickup the courage to undergo the surgery and experience the change. I never imagined what was in store for me at the beginning of 2021.What an amazing year It was and what an exciting journey! I got a new lease of life!