Five years today

[whooper]

Five years ago today, I was sitting in the outer antechamber of a neurosurgical unit. I had come here, to Loyola University in the outskirts of Chicago, to try an experimental procedure for treating my otherwise degenerating OCD.

Where it had all come to was me, fairly early in the morning, sitting in a chair in this calmingly green-tiled

Comments

[nancyblue]

This is a remarkable telling. You are a remarkable person. Have you followed anyone else who has had this done?

You really do amaze me.

Awwww

[whooper]

Shucks. :-)

I don't personally know anyone else who has had this procedure. However, I will probably be getting to know one soon - in a remarkable twist of synchronicity, of the people who was praying for me intently when all of this occurred (a close friend of my aunt's) has a teenage daughter whose dystonia and tremors have gotten severe enough that their neurosurgeon just suggested an experimental treatment with implanted electrodes :-) It was nice to be able to give a worried parent a "don't worry, I've been there, here's what it's like" talk, and I will probably talk directly to the young lady at some point.

Re: Awwww

[grosely_clerx]

When I was researching OCD treatment methods for that ghost story I was talking to you about, I ran across a little sniglet at the end, concerning "promising trials using deep brain stimulation on a small number of subjects." I thought to myself, "Oh, do tell!"

Fantastic entry. Happy Saneday. It's nice having you around.

[jgalloway]

IT'S LIKE I WAS THERE, MAN!

Well

[whooper]

There were a lot of people in masks in the operating area - it's possible you were there, for all I know. :-D

[omegix]

you forgot the part about your remote control!

:)

[bbsy]

Whoa, he has a remote control? I guess that'd make sense if it's DBS.

[glicious]

I got chills reading that, even though I've heard variations of the story several times. I, too, am deeply grateful for your surgery, because it's a piece of the wonderfully complex puzzle that makes up my remarkable friend Will. Happy anniversary, and big hugs to you.

[mackatlaw]

Whenever I get jealous of you (and I do), I think about all the suffering you had before five years ago, that I watched a part of. I envy your eloquence, your reduction of symptions, your ease with women, your social skills, your faith, and your academic success. But I also know that you suffered for each and every benefit you received. It's not as if there was a true cost equation -- X years of suffering does not equal Y years of happiness. But sometimes it seems like a magic accountant was involved in your life, tallying up the numbers.

It's been too long since I've visited Tuscaloosa or been a tour guide in Birmingham. What are you up to this Saturday?

Mack