The Ribbon of Road Ahead

Thursday morning we left for Portland for my day of surgery preparation.  On the way I was able to pick up the OSAA radio broadcast of the Lady Bulldogs in the 5a playoffs.  That incited my blog post about basketball and teamwork.  

On board in the pickup we had the tandem “Grepedo” and my Bianci road bike.  My search for someone to help fit the bike to my special needs found Annalisa Fish, A physical therapist and competitive cyclist. I scheduled with her for Friday morning.  We dropped the bikes at our friends Art and Rose so we would not worry about their safety and we headed into the city.

Charlie and I met with Dr Burchiel, my neurosurgeon at the OHSU Center for Health and Healing.  We discussed the placement of the probes. The Globus Pallidus Thalamus is the structure of choice.   I learn that I will have alot of stitches, yet they will be dissoluble. What a relief as I don’t think I can handle that many staples.  Dr Burchiel also noticed I have a shorter haircut.  But he said he is going to have to shave some large patches so I may consider a somewhat shorter approach. Buzz or bald is my decision.  We talked about the medical “fellows” who will be involved as this is a teaching hospital.  After signing the consent forms, he released me to the pre-op department.

Charlie got  tram tickets and up the hill we went to the OHSU main hospital.  We were greeted by a long legged volunteer who guided us to the department.  Trekking poles came in handy as we practically ran trying to keep up.  A young medical assistant  drew blood and gathered all my vitals.  Then I was introduced to a nurse practitioner who was very thorough collecting a complete medical history and exam.  My nose was swabbed for MERSA, Strep and a half a dozen other bad germs.  Results indicated I am a pretty healthy girl.

From there we found our way to the Imaging Department. Today’s MRI images and live CAT SCAN technology during the procedure   will direct the implant of the probes.  When  I checked in and I  took some sedative. I was shown to a rest room to remove my bra as it was the only clothing item with metal. By then I was a bit whoozie and I got totally tangle in my bra.  I just had to laugh at myself..it was almost to the point of calling for help… The sedative did what it was ordered for and I am glad I did because once in the MRI  it was bam, pound, zing and rip (MRI sounds) and I was out in 30 minutes.  Food was first on the agenda, then getting back down the hill on the tram and to the pickup in the parking garage.  Medication really took affect and I hallucinated that the pickup was an MRI machine.  Arriving back at Art and Rose’s home Art “caught” me out of the pickup, guided me to a couch as a literally crashed and asleep I was!

Be glad when you can sleep dear people. 

Friday morning we found our way to Annalisa Fish’s Physical Therapy office.  Steve is a maestro of bike fitting and had my Bianci worked over and adjusted pretty good.  But then, it came to a crucial adjustment and the bike didn’t have it to give.  Annalisa took the measurements and went online to find a bike that would fit.  Guess what?  There was one right there in downtown Portland, and 1/3 off the regular price. We scurried down there and picked up that bike, even though we should not be buying anything. Returning to Annalisas office Steve went to work Checking the fit  The “Grepedo” was fit to me also.

I learned about bike short, riding position, pedals, exercises to strengthen and on and on.  I have been on that bike twice now and it only gets better.
Well, I could tell about the long dreary ride home, how Charlie slept the entire Saturday away and how I slept through the night.  Whats important here is I got excited about something. Parkinson”s disease tends to steal some of that emotion away.  It is just plain good to “feel.”