Merry Christmas everybody ! May the Christmas Spirit Bless your lives and bring you Joy and Happieness this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Love Larry and Joanne.
A new place to chat and share some stories with Family and friends. Open to all Bloggers from the Hooks Family, Gardner Family, Moore Family, Wall Family, Johnson Family, Hardy Family, Connell Family, Davenport Family, Who am I missing Family, and all our friends. Ladies and Gentelman "START YOUR BLOGGING"
Friday, December 01, 2006
It's getting to look alot like Christmas
Merry Christmas everybody ! May the Christmas Spirit Bless your lives and bring you Joy and Happieness this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Love Larry and Joanne.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Greg's Surgery update
The "honeymoon" is over for Greg Gardner, and it didn't last long. This wasn’t a long-postponed trip he and his wife, Marilyn, took. Gardner’s “honeymoon” is what doctors call a period of time after surgery when he did not experience the tremors caused by his Parkinson's disease.
The Yuma man recently underwent two surgeries at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., as part of Deep Brain Stimulation therapy aimed at controlling the disease, which Gardner a year ago learned he had.
The brain swells from the trauma of the surgery, “and makes Parkinson’s disease seem better but when the honeymoon is over, the honeymoon is over,” Gardner said.
The tremors have since returned, but it’s not because the surgery wasn’t successful.
In the first surgery on Oct. 18, a lead — a type of wire — was placed on each side of the brain. The wires then were connected to a neurostimulator, a pacemaker-like device that was implanted in his chest in the second surgery a week later.
The leads implanted in the brain send out electrical signals that help control the tremors caused by Parkinson's disease. He is due to return to Scripps on Nov. 22 so his doctor can activate the neurostimulator that everyone expects will minimize the tremors.
Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS, cannot cure nor stop the progression of Parkinson's, although it makes it easier for Parkinson's patients to live with the disease, said Gardner, the news director at KAWC radio.
Before the first surgery, Gardner's head was shaved and a metal frame was then hand-screwed in place — with screws actually going all the way to his skull. The frame was then screwed onto the table to prevent him from moving during the surgery, during which he would be awake.
"If you could have seen (my wife's) face when they wheeled me out with that frame on. She was just taken aback and so she didn't worry me, she just said ‘(gasp) oh my, they cut your hair,’ ” Gardner said.
Gardner remembers only parts of the surgery even though he was kept awake while doctors opened and drilled two holes in his skull to be able to reach the brain.
"I don't remember hearing the drill. I remember feeling the vibration of it," Gardner said.
Gardner, known to friends and acquaintances for his humor and quick wit, says he is sure a lot of people were probably as surprised as he was to "find out that when they actually drilled in, yes, there was a brain."
The only time he worried during the surgery, he said, was when he wanted to sneeze. "Imagine one of the worst things you can do when you're having surgery ... I thought, I'm gonna sneeze, I'm gonna blow these tools all over the place, you know, and he's gonna lose his grip."
The surgeon explained all the steps and conversed with him throughout the entire operation.
But more reassuring for Gardner was "the fact that I kept hearing Dr. (Thomas) Waltz say, ‘beautiful, just beautiful,’ ” and that meant everything was going according to plan.
"It could have been a whole lot worse. It probably wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated — feared," Gardner said.
Gardener has a "good feeling" and is feeling "positive" about the results of the surgery even though he has to wait another couple of weeks for his doctor to activate and fine-tune the device.
Gardener went into surgery thinking: "I really have nothing to lose and everything to gain." He added, "I'm a believer in the Lord and I believe the Lord was with Dr. Waltz that day and the team."
The Yuma man recently underwent two surgeries at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., as part of Deep Brain Stimulation therapy aimed at controlling the disease, which Gardner a year ago learned he had.
The brain swells from the trauma of the surgery, “and makes Parkinson’s disease seem better but when the honeymoon is over, the honeymoon is over,” Gardner said.
The tremors have since returned, but it’s not because the surgery wasn’t successful.
In the first surgery on Oct. 18, a lead — a type of wire — was placed on each side of the brain. The wires then were connected to a neurostimulator, a pacemaker-like device that was implanted in his chest in the second surgery a week later.
The leads implanted in the brain send out electrical signals that help control the tremors caused by Parkinson's disease. He is due to return to Scripps on Nov. 22 so his doctor can activate the neurostimulator that everyone expects will minimize the tremors.
Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS, cannot cure nor stop the progression of Parkinson's, although it makes it easier for Parkinson's patients to live with the disease, said Gardner, the news director at KAWC radio.
Before the first surgery, Gardner's head was shaved and a metal frame was then hand-screwed in place — with screws actually going all the way to his skull. The frame was then screwed onto the table to prevent him from moving during the surgery, during which he would be awake.
"If you could have seen (my wife's) face when they wheeled me out with that frame on. She was just taken aback and so she didn't worry me, she just said ‘(gasp) oh my, they cut your hair,’ ” Gardner said.
Gardner remembers only parts of the surgery even though he was kept awake while doctors opened and drilled two holes in his skull to be able to reach the brain.
"I don't remember hearing the drill. I remember feeling the vibration of it," Gardner said.
Gardner, known to friends and acquaintances for his humor and quick wit, says he is sure a lot of people were probably as surprised as he was to "find out that when they actually drilled in, yes, there was a brain."
The only time he worried during the surgery, he said, was when he wanted to sneeze. "Imagine one of the worst things you can do when you're having surgery ... I thought, I'm gonna sneeze, I'm gonna blow these tools all over the place, you know, and he's gonna lose his grip."
The surgeon explained all the steps and conversed with him throughout the entire operation.
But more reassuring for Gardner was "the fact that I kept hearing Dr. (Thomas) Waltz say, ‘beautiful, just beautiful,’ ” and that meant everything was going according to plan.
"It could have been a whole lot worse. It probably wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated — feared," Gardner said.
Gardener has a "good feeling" and is feeling "positive" about the results of the surgery even though he has to wait another couple of weeks for his doctor to activate and fine-tune the device.
Gardener went into surgery thinking: "I really have nothing to lose and everything to gain." He added, "I'm a believer in the Lord and I believe the Lord was with Dr. Waltz that day and the team."
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
X Marks the Spot
Good luck and Prayers go out to Greg! Greg has Transmitter surgery on Friday. I hope he can get (((XM))) Radio on that thing! lol j/k. I'm hoping he makes a quick recovery and responds to this Blog. We'll keep you up to date if we can. Larry
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Hey Family!
Hey family!! You've done it again Larry! Good job!
Thanks for posting the pics of Greg. It good to see him looking so chipper!!
We love you Greg! Our prayers are with you.
Love you all too! Thanks Larry!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Greg's post surgery
Looking good Greg! We'll keep you in our prayers for round 2 next week. Hang in there Buddy, Your doing great! Take it easy, Love Larry and Joanne
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Greg's Surgery
Our prayers, hopes and best wishes are with you Greg, Have a safe trip to San Diego and back home. God Bless you and your Family. Love, Larry & Jo
Monday, October 16, 2006
1st Blog on Jo's Family & Friends Blog Page
Hello Family and Friends. Here's a new place where we can share some stories and chat with each other! (Family & Friends) Enjoy youself and tell others. Sign in our Guest Book and leave your blog or E-Mail me at Wallary@aol.com and I'll post it for you. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for the Blog Site. Thanks, Larry
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