Kel’s Blog

”Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life.” – Yoko Ono

My mom and I headed to Ohio State for my pre-op appointment. I’m not sure why I had it in my head I was meeting with an anesthesiologist and also just getting blood work. Then I was also scheduled for a CT scan at the Dublin site. I guess I was thinking I was younger for a minute. So let me set the scene for the first of several funnies of the day. My appointment was arrive at 12:15pm for 12:30pm for the pre-op. Then arrive at 3:30pm for 4:00pm in Dublin which is 25 minutes from the first appointment. So on the drive up my mom asks me what are we going to do in between the appointments? I answer with we will just have to play it by ear as I am not sure at all how long the first appointment will last. So we arrive at the building we needed to be at for this first part. I am getting good at finding the buildings, but not so good with where to park for each one. lol. My mom is a trooper though as she has a rollater walker and she goes to town pushing that. So we arrive with a few extra minutes which is always good as we always have to have a pit stop before the appointment. So we find the little girls room and stop there first. First funny of the day: I stand there as I thought the two regular stalls were full as they seemed locked. After at least ten minutes and a worker comes in I say I think those are locked, but no one is in them. She says have you tried to push the doors. Here all this time I thought you pulled the doors, but no you push them. Oh my. I was glad that it was only us three in there as we all chuckled at me for a few minutes. If you know me you know sometimes I am special that way. Next we head towards where we need to check in for my appointment. We get to that end of the building and there are automatic glass doors to go through before we get to the check in desk. Second funny of the day: I almost ran into those glass doors with my head as I thought they were going to open wider. So I proceed to give the lady my name and answer her questions and why I thought it important to tell her and I almost ran into your door with my head. Her response to that was that’s ok. Oh my. I go back to sit by my mom as she’s waiting and she said yes I heard her. lol. Well it’s my turn so I go to the back and I wait and wait. Did I say I waited. The MA had been in and asked a lot of questions and said a physician would be in soon. After I saw the doc she had the MA come back in to do an EKG. Third funny of the day: During the EKG she proceeds to say it says you have a tremor on the EKG machine can you sit on your hands? I’m thinking duh that is why I am here. Ha ha. I finally am heading back out to the waiting room and tell my mom you aren’t going to believe this, but I haven’t even had my blood drawn. Now to give you an idea about time is they took me back about 12:30pm and it was almost 2:30 by the time I got back out to my mom. She said I was about to go up to the counter and say what are you doing with my daughter back there. I laughed at her, but was a little mad, but was thinking what good is that going to do me. So we head to the lab area which is on our way out. They get me back and back out in like 15-20 minutes. Now back in the car on way to Dublin for the CT scan. Remember we were wanting to know what we were going to do in between the appointments. I guess we figured it out. So we arrive at the building in Dublin at 3:20 and were already headed home by 3:40pm. That was the quickest appointment of the day. Stayed tuned as next week it’s the surgeries posts.

RECIPES WITH GRANDMA JUDY

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

4-5 Chicken breasts

3 Cans of cream of chicken soup (or 1 family size)

8 oz sour cream

1/4 c chicken broth

3 cylinders of ritz crackers

1 1/2 sticks margarine

Boil chicken and save broth. Remove bone from chicken. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and place in bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream, and chicken broth and heat until blended. Pour over chicken. Cover with crushed ritz crackers well coated in melted margarine. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

”Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.” – Jackie Chan

I remember the day pretty plainly when the surgery scheduler Sunny called with the good news. I was a candidate for bilateral DBS surgery. It was a Friday and although it is usually a day off for me I had picked up a shift so was able to tell my supervisors and coworkers. I also called my mom all excited. I believe there might have even been tears envolved. I believe I even called both brothers and their wives to share the good news with them. I was given tentative days and times and she would confirm them the following Monday. So I originally was given November 30th for stage 1 and then December 14th for stage 2. Then Stage 2 got bumped up by one day to December 13. I will have to say I was not scared at all to have a brain surgery. I am not sure if it’s the fact that I scheduled brain surgeries for 12 years, the fact I felt really comfortable with all the Ohio State staff, the fact I have the best support system, or a little bit of all of the above. Well reality was setting in and I had almost 7 weeks to get my ducks in a row. The part I was struggling with was that I was going to have to take a whole month off work. More about that in a later blog. Until next time.

”If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not” – Elon Musk

My mom, sister in law Debbie, and I drove to Columbus for what was my fourth visit at Ohio State. We met with Dr. Dalm who is a neurosurgeon that specializes in neuromodulation. He knew I was leaning towards DBS surgery and explained how it works. He also explained the three medical companies that he uses and it would be my choice which one I want to go with. Those are Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronics. While they all three do the same thing, they do each have a few little things that are different. What is DBS? Some of you could be asking this about now. Let me take the time to explain right here. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) involves implanting electrodes within areas of the brain. The electrodes produce electrical impulses that affect brain activity to treat certain medical conditions. The electrical impulses also can affect cells and chemicals within the brain that cause medical conditions. The amount of stimulation in deep brain stimulation is controlled by a pacemaker like device placed under the skin in the upper chest. A wire that travels under the skin connects this device to the electrodes in the brain. Deep brain stimulation is commonly used to treat a number of conditions, such as:

• Parkinson’s disease
• Essential tremors
• Conditions that cause dystonia, such as Meige syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Tourette syndrome
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder

It was a pretty simple visit and when I left there I felt very optimistic that I’d be a candidate. He said I would receive a call in a couple of weeks to find out the decision made when they meet as a team. More waiting….

RECIPES WITH GRANDMA JUDY

BAKED FRENCH TOAST

1 16 oz loaf of cinnamon swirl bread

6 eggs

3 c half and half or milk

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c raisins (optional) or you can use raisin cinnamon bread

Place cubed bread in greased 3 quart shallow baking dish. Mix eggs, half and half, vanilla, and raisins together. Pour over all. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. Uncover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown and set in center. Sprinkle with cinnamon or powdered sugar. Serve warm with butter and syrup.

”Change your thoughts, and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale

It’s MRI day and we are headed to Columbus yet again. It’s about an hour and twenty five minutes each way to the different facilities we would have to go. I didn’t mind as everyone so far treated me and my family that would go with me to my visits so well. I’m not at all claustrophobic, but was told this MRI is a special one and will last 50 minutes so that had me a little anxious. I had my sister in law Debbie take me so that I could take a Valium to calm my nerves. Now, I am by no way a little girl so mind you several times before we even get to this day I wanted to make sure I didn’t drive all this way and waste my sister in law’s or my time if I didn’t fit into the MRI machine. After getting back with the technicians and getting all the pre questions answered the one guy looked at me weird. I said to him you are worried I won’t fit? (Because I have no filter). His answer was I think you will, but it will be tight. He asked if I was willing to try as this is the best machine if I am planning on having DBS surgery. It was almost forty minutes and I hung in there, but I was snug in there like a sardine in a tin can. I thought my happy thoughts and did it. Stay tuned for more…

RECIPES BY GRANDMA JUDY

PRETZEL SALAD

(First Layer)

2 c pretzels coarsly chopped

3 T sugar

3/4 c margarine melted

(Second Layer)

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz cool whip

1 c sugar

(Third Layer)

6 oz pkg strawberry jello

2 c boiling water

2 10 oz pkgs frozen strawberries

First layer: Mix together and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Second layer: Cover up so none of the third layer can leak through second layer. Third layer: Mix together and spread on top. Let set up and serve.

”Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

Seeing the Nurse Practitioner for the first time was a good experience. She did a neuro assessment and also had me do some cognitive testing. She also filmed my visit so she could see my tremors. She had me right a sentence, do the spirals, and draw the straight lines. She also had me walk the straight line (you know like the drunks do, lol) and filmed my walking in general. I had to pour water from one cup to the next with both hands. The right hand and left hand were both tested in all the testing. You have to go through multiple steps before they see if you qualify for either procedure. She was my second appointment, although she could not tell me if I qualify as it wasn’t up to her, she told me I’d be a good candidate. At that time she said if not for both sides at least the right side. I felt good when I left her appointment. I tried hard to have an optimistic outlook on that visit. Stay tuned for more.

RECIPES WITH GRANDMA JUDY

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3/4 c butter

1 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

(3/4 dark brown)

(1/2 light brown)

2 T milk

1 T vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 c choc chips or m&ms or both

1 c nuts

Heat oven 375 Degrees. Mix butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat with mixer 2 minutes. Add egg beat until blended. Blend in dry ingredients and choc pieces. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough into a mound on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 8-9 minutes.

”One of the happiest moments in your life is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.” – Unknown

Examples of things hard to do with Essential Tremors

1. Put toothpaste on your toothbrush
2. Eat soup
3. Use keyboard at work
4. Use the mouse at work
5. Put air in my tires
6. Cooking (especially flipping grilled sandwiches)
7. Putting on make up
8. Using my debit card in machines
9. Writing
10. Making my hand rubber stamped cards
11. Shaving
12. Drinking
13. Carrying glasses of water or cups of coffee

I was referred to the Neurology Department at Ohio State in January of 2023. My first of many appointments was not until July 12, 2023. I was originally interested in hearing about a new procedure called Focus Ultrasound for my tremors. My mom had heard about it through a friend, a customer at the store, and then one of her really good friends had the procedure done and had great success with it.

After meeting with the neurologist and getting a neuro assessment and hearing about both FUS and DBS I decided that at my age DBS is the best way to go for me. With DBS if in ten years for example your tremor gets worse the stimulator can be tweaked. With FUS it’s basically one and done.

Dr. Jordan did an assessment and watched my tremors and and also filmed them to compare with when I see the Nurse Practitioner’s filming when I see her. Upon leaving I had several apts set up to proceed with seeing if I was a candidate for DBS. You have to see the NP, have a special MRI, and also see the Neurosurgeon. After all of these apts they meet as a team to discuss your case to see if you are a candidate. Let the waiting begin.

RECIPES WITH GRANDMA JUDY

COFFEE CAKE

2 c. Dark brown sugar

2 c. Flour

1 Stick softened butter (margarine)

1 Egg

1 c. Sour milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

Nuts (if desired)

Mix sugar and margarine, add flour and nuts. Take out a cup of the mixture for topping. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle on topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

”Believe you can and you are halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

I saw my first Neurologist back when I was 30. My tremors were not too bad at the start. I feared that I was going to find out that I was going to be told I had Parkinson’s Disease. The physician kinda laughed at me and said no you are too young. I mentioned what about Michael J. Fox? He didn’t have much to say to that other than I did not have any other symptoms.

When I first went to him I was having multiple symptoms like headaches, tremors, vision problems, and falling a lot. He put me through quite a few tests and really didn’t find anything other than neuropathy which he couldn’t figure what was causing it as I didn’t have the typical issues that come with neuropathy. He tried me on both primidone back then and propanol which really didn’t help much. He just basically said it was Essential Tremors and I figured I was going to have to just live with them. I didn’t know any better.

So live with them is what I did. With a three year old at the time I just sucked it up and dealt with it and stopped the medication at the time since it wasn’t doing anything. Then about eight years or so later I decided to try a different Neurologist. She put me back on propranolol as the tremor had gotten worse, but really didn’t feel there was much more to do for me. I gave up and just dealt with my family doc as I was frustrated with specialists and the cost. It wasn’t until the end of 2022 I decided to listen to my mom. Stay tuned for the next several blogs.

RECIPES WITH GRANDMA JUDY

DIRTCAKE

1 Large pack of Oreos (crushed)

1/2 Stick of butter

1 8 oz. Cream Cheese

1 c. Powdered Sugar

3 1/2 c. Milk

2 pkg Vanilla Instant Pudding

12 oz. Container of Cool Whip

Cream together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Mix milk, pudding, cool whip, and add to the cream cheese mixture. Start with layer of crushed cookies, then pudding mixture. Continue layers