What a week - in both good ways and bad. Nothing catastrophic, as I know others are dealing with much, much worse then I am this year. But, it has been a week. I've been under some stress (who hasn't this year, right?!) and so I thought that that was what was the major contributing factor to my walking poorly. I've fallen more times then I can count. I've reverted back to not only just using my cane but now my walker as well. Stress can't be doing all of that, can it? Maybe it can. It's definitely been a week. I've fallen numerous times, but I did not change the electricity and today marks two weeks since I went back to the level that seemed to work the best: Frequency A at 3.60 volts. My walking has only gotten worse.
But, this past week has not been entirely bad. Mom and I got to get away for one night to Dolly Parton's Dream More Resort and to Dollywood (for those non-Tennesseans, it's an amusement park). Everything was decked out for Christmas and it was stunning. They took every precaution to keep everyone safe from COVID and it was a beautiful time. Though not planned, this trip kind of coincided with an anniversary of sorts for us. We celebrated surviving a car accident that we had 21 years ago on December 19, 1999. This trip was not planned because of that, but I love how God works little details like that in to our life story.
Speaking of the anniversary of that car accident, about a month or so ago, there was another accident at the same spot we had ours. It looked like they had similar results. As I passed it, a car was being extracted from the ravine we went hurling down some 21 years earlier. Thankfully, for me, I don't remember much about the accident as I was knocked unconsciousness, but Mom remembers everything. Still, for whatever reason, when I passed this latest accident, I had flashbacks to our accident.
On Sunday, I fell walking into church. I didn't injure myself, but still. I fell. I was using my cane too! Later that day, Mom and I headed to Sevierville. Once we were at the Dream More Resort and in our room, something didn't sit right with me. I had major problems walking in places and while using my walker that I shouldn't be having problems walking in and with the walker. So, before we headed to Dollywood to see all the Christmas lights, I pulled out my deep brain stimulation remote and checked to see if everything was right with the electricity. And sometime between December 9 (when I last pulled the remote out to check) and December 20, this happened:
I know what this sign means and it's not good. It means: CALL THE DOCTOR. It means, the (internal) battery in my deep brain stimulation device has very low power and is about to die. It means I'll need surgery again to replace the battery. When I saw my neurologist back in June, he had warned me that although the stimulator was fine then, it was depleting the battery rapidly and that I would probably need a new one within a year to a year and half. Again, that was back in June - just 6 short months ago! But this is 2020 and anything goes, right?! Back to Sunday: at that very moment, there wasn't anything I could do as it was Sunday, so Mom and I headed to the park to see the Christmas lights. Boy, they did NOT disappoint. If you've never been to Dollywood, especially at Christmas time, you should make the trip and go. The lights were absolutely stunning! Unfortunately, the night wasn't all perfect though. (but is anything really?!) I fell. I fell WHILE USING MY WALKER. That takes talent, people! I ended up ripping my jeans and shedding blood. But, have no fear, I came prepared with bandages.I try never to go anywhere without bandages. It's just what I carry with me all the time, because I seem to need them all the time. The evening turned wonderful again as we made it completely through the park seeing all the lights and then back to the resort to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. We then had the most perfect view from the resort (while sitting in lounge chairs - just the two of us - no one else around) to watch the 7-minute fireworks show Dollywood put on. After viewing them, we toured (on our own) the hotel and then retreated to our room where we drank hot chocolate and ate (way too many) snacks we brought from home while watching TV. It was perfectly imperfect!!
First thing on Monday (while still at the resort), I called my neurologist and left a message with his nurse practitioner. She called me back to get a few more details and told me she would tell Dr. T. everything that was going on and would call me back. Then Mom and I headed to Dollywood for the day. It was a wonderful day at the park. We saw all the live shows we wanted to see, rode the train and the carousal and ate way too much food. Thanks to my use of the walker we got preferential treatment and were allowed to skip lines sometimes. So walking with it wasn't all bad. However, if I had the choice, I'd rather walk without it normally and stand in lines - ha! The last show we saw at the park was the biggest surprise for me. I went to high school with Dolly Parton's niece, Jada. I knew she now performs at the park, but had never seen her and didn't know the show we were about to see was hers, but it was! We were seated on the second row and about halfway through the show, Jada spotted and recognized me (mask and all) in the audience. She waved and at the end waved again and made a motion for me to message her on Instagram. So, I did! We corresponded back and forth and I told her she made my day by recognizing me. I mean, it's been like forever since we've been in high school. All in all Mom and I had a fabulous, safe time and I'm so blessed to have gotten to go away with her - just the two of us - for a fun little adventure.
I heard back from my neurologist today. His nurse practitioner called and said what I knew (and expected) all along: the battery needs to be replaced. I didn't have to go in to see Dr. T. (my neurologist), but he had already spoken with the neurosurgeon and I have an appointment with the neurosurgeon on January 7 at 9 am to get the process going of getting a new battery.
I have to say, in a very weird way, I am very thankful it's the battery that needs to be replaced. It explains EVERYTHING. Why I can't stop falling. Why I'm having so many muscle spasms. Why I can't keep my balance. Why I feel dizzy every once in awhile. Why the stimulation and the medications are not working. So, for the time being, I'll be using my walker and cane. It's better then falling. And it's (hopefully!) temporary.
Well, that's the update for now. I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas!
Always remember - God's Got This!
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