(Editor’s Note: A story about another brave brain surgery volunteer.)
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) April 15, 2009
What would prompt someone to say “Let’s stick wires into someone’s brain, run voltage through it, and see what happens!”? So asks activist and author Jackie Hunt Christensen in her important new book, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN: A Patient‘s Guide to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson’s Disease (Langdon Street Press; April 2009; ISBN 978-1-934938-26-3; $ 16.95).
Beyond answering the “whys” that arise in considering Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery, Hunt Christensen offers her unique perspective in this comprehensive book. LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN (www.lifewithbobbook.com) is designed to be a highly readable guide for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), exploring the benefits of this particular surgery on many motor symptoms of the disease. “Deep Brain Stimulation is a process, not an event,” explains Hunt Christensen.
The author has firsthand knowledge of the procedure more commonly referred to as “DBS” and lived with Parkinson’s disease for more than seven years before electing to be evaluated for DBS surgery. Ultimately, she was deemed a good candidate for the surgery, and DBS seemed like her only logical option–a choice that has been validated post-surgery, as Christensen now enjoys life with most of her motor symptoms well controlled. Parkinson’s disease, the author is quick to point out, does not end, but DBS is meant to be a long-term treatment.
Now Jackie Hunt Christensen offers readers a resource that was previously unavailable: a step-by-step look at her own journey, as well as information on a typical evaluation process, medical statistics, questions to ask neurosurgeons, opinions from other DBS patients, the programming process for DBS, and much more.
“I wrote this book as way of giving back to the community,” Hunt Christensen said. “DBS has given me back so much of my life! I want to share what I’ve learned from my own experience and others’ to help inform the decisions being made every day by others looking for those same results.”
LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN is a must-read for those who are considering Deep Brain Stimulation–and for those who love them. Health professionals can also benefit from reading the book, as certain diagnostic tools and therapies may not be safe for use on DBS patients or require specific precautions.
Being released by Langdon Street Press today, LIFE WITH A BATTERY-OPERATED BRAIN will be available in bookstores and online at Life With a Battery-Operated Brain or Amazon.com.
Jackie Hunt Christensen is also the author of The First Year: Parkinson’s Disease, An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed and has published numerous articles and editorials regarding both Parkinson’s and environmental issues. In 2006, she won the Milly Kondracke Award for Outstanding Advocacy from the Parkinson’s Action Network in Washington, DC.
Jackie, her husband, and two sons ages 17 and 12, reside in Minneapolis.
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Parky Bill's Parkinson's Disease Place 