Watched phones seldom ring.
I am sitting here with my gut in HUGE knots. I have sent a e-mail to my father asking him to call me, as I do not have his new phone number on me. I have not told anyone in my family about the fact I am meeting with the Neurosurgeon again in two weeks. This time to ask that he consider referring me for the necessary testing that is required before one is considered a candidate for Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery (DBS). In short DBS is a pacemaker for the brain. It is not a cure for Essential Tremor, but blocks the misfiring signals from getting through In addition to having Trigeminal Neuralgia, I also have Juvenile Onset Inherited Essential Tremor (ET.) . ET is the most common of all movement disorders. 10 million people in the United States have it, where only 1.9 million people have Parkinson’s tremor. ET is a progressive disorder which means it only gets worse with time. I have been dealing with it now for the past 38 years.It affects the person’s dominate side, which in my case is my right side. It has gotten to the point my right hand is shaking like a leaf in a hurricane force wind. I have few clothes that are not stained due to my having food fall in my lap. I seldom wear clothes with buttons as most days I am shaking so badly I could not get the buttons buttoned. I keep telling myself not to let people’s staring bother me but that is sometimes easier said, then done. Week before last, I went to get something to drink at the cafeteria where I work. I was shaking badly. Lost my grip on the cup and ended up with the large part of a 32 oz coke going down the front of me and the rest hitting the counter and floor. Would have not been so bad, except this happened during the lunch hour rush. Thank God a coworker had seen I was in trouble and helped me. Fact is everyone was great, but I wanted to crawl under a rock and die, I was so embarrassed. After 38 years, this was the straw that broke the camels back. Dr Eller specializes in DBS for ET. More than that he is doing research to try to learn what causes the disorder to start in the first place. While I am really discouraged right now, I am hopeful that as research like Dr. Eller’s is being done more than a treatment will be available, a cure can be found. Sarah
