Customer Reviews

Life With a Battery-Operated Brain - A Patient's Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson's Disease

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Being a Parkinson's patient myself who has also had Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery, I appreciated this book for the following reasons:

· It is written BY a DBS patient and FOR patients and their families considering DBS.

· It provides an easy-to-understand, step-by step guide through the entire DBS process (DBS is not an event, but a process, says the author).

· The book provides checklists of questions to ask the neurosurgeon, programmer, and others involved in the DBS process.

· The book has illustrations, photos, appendices with links to other valuable information, with excerpts from the author's personal journals and opinions from other DBS patients.

· The book includes topics such as the DBS evaluation process, making the decision, the logical tasks required in preparing for surgery including psychological preparedness, the impact on the family, a detailed description of what actually happens in surgery, the programming process, care and maintenance of DBS, side effects of DBS and alternatives to DBS.

· It gives power back to DBS patients, arming them with information and questions that they might not have considered.

· It's the kind of book that I wish had existed when I was going through DBS.

I highly recommend this practical guide to DBS. In fact, I liked the book so much that I wish I had written it myself.

A good book on the surgery. I had it done. I could not relate to some of it because my procedure was done diffeently and some of the no-no's in the book were opposite of what was told to me by my physicians. I appreciated hearing about Jackie's experiences. She is a trooper and is of great encoragement!

Since having this book, I have reread it many times and feel I have an excellent understanding of what I will face when I have the surgery. Jackie Christensen explains all aspects of her experience in a clear concise manner. She is honest in presenting the positive and negative of her experience and what she might have done differently. She emphasized the importance of loyal family and friends that made her comfortable taking on this surgery. Having young children is a concern that she didn't lose site of. This is a must book for anyone considering this surgery.