PatientsLikeMe ™

March 2012 Update: I had DBS surgery on February 1, 2010 by Dr. Mandybur at the Mayfield Clinic (University of Cincinnati Hospital). My symptoms are much more manageable with DBS!! The severe ones are gone - no more foot cramps, dyskinesia, falling off periods, or painful dystonia in my shoulder. I still take my PD medicine as before to improve my speech. Mornings bring better speech, possibly because I’m rested. My afternoons and evening speaking ability is unsure at best. I praise God for smart and experienced people like the folks at Mayfield and the U of C Hospital (and my programmer, Maureen)! In July, 2011 I was approved for Social Security disability. That takes a lot of pressure off because before I received that I was trying to make a living doing telemarketing for a company. That is very difficult when you can’t speak very well! As for my Medtronics DBS, Maureen, and I have tried some different settings but by far the one which is best for me is called “constant current” set at 3.1 amps. I feel the best at that setting and have no “off” times. I’m slower moving in the morning and tend to shuffle a bit before my meds. My speech improves after medicine. I am a 56 year old male, happily married to Carol with 3 grown children: Ryan (29) and his wife, Brittany; Cheryl (27) and her husband, Jeff; and Brad (24). I have “morphed” from my 25 year career in material handling sales to become a professional photographer for ministries and non-profit organizations. Some of these organizations are Target Dayton, Hannah’s Treasure Chest, Dayton Gospel Mission, Tri-State Parkinson’s Wellness – Steady Strides 5k Race, and my church Fairhaven’s photography team. You can visit my photography website: http://creationsourceimages.com/ . My faith in Jesus Christ is my Rock and I serve Him to the best of my ability. My church asked to shoot a video in March, 2009 about my Parkinson's experience before my Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. You can view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGlGDfhHFY0 I also have a blog: http://creationsourceimages.wordpress.com/ In my blog, you can read about a research project I participated in recently where they turned my DBS off for about 2 hours. I keep active and try to exercise often using my stationary bike and also riding a bike outside. I volunteer by visiting rehab patients for my church on Friday mornings, I’m in Circles out of Poverty http://circlescampaign.org/ , serve one morning at Target Dayton: http://targetdayton.com/ feeding homeless and poor people breakfast after a church service. I intend to wear out rather than rust out as long as I can move.