The trial didn’t end with the operations.

Once before, and four times after the surgeries, as part of the clinical trial I was required to spend eight days at the General Clinical Research Center at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The reason?  To measure the progress of Parkinsonism among the people who HAD the surgery against the people in the study who did NOT have the surgery.  They did this by bringing us in, putting us through typical PD testing, then turning off our DBS devices and withdrawing our medication.  They tested us daily for all eight days, then turned on the devices and sent us on our way.  My final “Droolfest” was in April 2009.  I made videos.

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