DBS and infection

[shopteacher]

Hi. I'm one of those few patients you read about who developed a brain infection from a DBS operation. I now have DBS on one side only. i'm fortunate that I came out of it all right. Now I'm going to have to decide if I want to get the other side done. I think I may wait to see what type of new DBS or meds come out. has anybody else gone through this and now has both sides done?

Having the one side done hasn't done much for my freezing and gait

[Hikoi]

Shop teacher I haven't had DBS but sometimes a comment starts others responding. Here's hoping.

[amigo77]

My mom has parkison for over 30 years. And she got the DBS a few weeks ago. On one side and she is doing very well thanks God. She's also taking a 1/4 pill of levodopa carbidopa. she is thinking about doing the other side. She is 71 years old.

[WtjrBill]

Shopteacher, I had an infection with my DBS on the left side. They tried three times to clear it up with surgery but, it did't work. Then we decided to take everything out. This was the leads and the harness. We left the battery pack in because it was fairly new. I was hospitalized for 7 days on IV. Went home with a PIC line for more antibiotics for another two weeks. We waited another three months and then reinstalled the hardware. That was around two years ago. Both sides are done now. I feel great, no tremors, no dyskenisias. To see me you wouldn't know I had Parkinsons. Of course there are things that DBS seems to worsen, such as speech and swallowing. I would do it again. The benefits truly outweigh the agony of having it all done again.

good luck and God bless

Bill

[shopteacher in reply to WtjrBill]

Bill

Did the doctors place the lead into the same hole that was infected?

[WtjrBill in reply to shopteacher]

Yes, but they had to drill out the skull a little more. Dr. said the skull repairs itself pretty quickly. I don't know where they went from there...

Bill

[shopteacher in reply to WtjrBill]

Bill,if you don't mind me asking, how's your gait now? are you able to walk around with no difficulties? The infection really threw me a cute ball, scared the heck out of me, but operating only on one side is getting frustrating, so I'm weighing should I wait for more advanced technology or just go for the job to be finished, like you did.

Thanks Bill

George

[WtjrBill]

I didn't know how bad my walking had gotten until they removed the left side. When I left the hospital they brought a cane by and asked if I wanted to take it home. I refused. When they replaced the left side my walking returned to normal. My right foot drags sometimes but otherwise I'm pretty good. When I get tired I notice it more. I'm on my feet for ten hours a day at work. I get around Ok.

Hope this helps George. Good luck.

[shopteacher in reply to WtjrBill]

Thank you Bill

It helped a lot