February 2, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Parkinson’s disease and brain surgery couldn’t stop Mike
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI
Staff Writer

Six months after his brain surgery to help alleviate symptoms of his Parkinson’s disease, Mike Dean stands outside of Caruso’s Market on Germantown Avenue with fellow employee Ritagail Green.

Mike Dean had only one week to prepare for the brain surgery he would undergo to relieve him of the tremors that came with his Parkinson’s disease that had been diagnosed 14 years earlier.

“After three years of preparation, brooding over this (the decision to undergo the surgery), then suddenly it was a week away,” said 58-year-old Dean, who has lived in Chestnut Hill for more than 30 years. He received the call last May, about three years after Dr. Matthew Stern of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Pennsylvania, approached him with the offer to become part of a national study in deep brain stimulation (DBS).

The study is nationwide, but about 50 patients are involved in this area. According to Dr. Stacy Horn, a neurologist at the center, the study is testing the effects of the DBS on two parts of the brain to see how each reacts and which yields the better results.

Dean was the ideal candidate for the surgery, according to Horn, because of his physical and mental health, and they were looking for someone who experienced vast differences in movement ability on and off of this medication.

The turning point for Dean in making the decision to participate in this study was a meeting with Lafayette Hill resident and fellow participant in the study Mark Helms. Helms had previously undergone the surgery and told Dean that his only regret was that he had not done it sooner.

He took the time to visit Dean at his home to share his surgical experience. Dean said that during the visit, Helms turned off his neurostimulator and his tremors were so violent that he couldn’t stand up. “I said, ‘I want one of them,’” Dean said.

DBS is a 10-hour surgical procedure that, through electronic stimulation to the parts of the brain that cause Parkinson’s symptoms, alleviates the symptoms such as tremors and rigidity. A thin, insulated wire is implanted in the brain, which runs under the skin to a neurostimulator, usually located around the collarbone. The neurostimulator allows the patient and doctor to control the voltage.

Dean said he can’t feel the electronic pulses in his brain. “The only thing I feel is better,” he said.

The surgery helped to alleviate Dean’s symptoms, mainly rigidity in the joints, difficulty in walking and what he described as “moderate tremors.” Now, six months after the surgery, Dean is proud to hold out his perfectly still hands and talk about his frequent strolls down the Avenue.

“The first thing everyone noticed about me when I got out of the hospital was the way I walked,” Dean said. He heard from friends and family, “Wow, you’re walking straight!” He only spent two days in the hospital after the surgery.

Dean is also working at Caruso’s Market, 8424 Germantown Ave., a few days a week – though technically he is on leave at the moment for a broken hand unrelated to the surgery or disease. He began work only four months after a surgery, though doctors estimate that patients undergoing this surgery need a six-month recovery time. He started with two two-hour shifts per week and is now up to three five-hour shifts.

“I was about to go to two five-hour and one six-hour shift when I broke my hand,” said Dean. He expects to return to the Market in a few weeks when his cast is removed. “They’ve been most considerate.”

He is also taking exercise classes at the Chestnut Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, where he gave a question-and-answer lecture on his experience.

Dean is extremely grateful that the surgery has given him the opportunity to drop two medications and cut back on the number of doses needed from his previous 13-daily medication smorgasbord.

“I tell my friends that I’m the only person to have elected to be a brain surgery patient,” Dean joked. “And I want to publicly give my wife and three daughters thanks for getting me through this.”

Every three to six months, a check-up is required, but Dean can visit with the doctors whenever he feels the need. He visited recently to receive what he calls a “tuning,” which is when the doctor adjusts the amount of voltage to the brain to fit his current condition. He said the voltage amount fluctuates up or down, depending on the need.

Dean was readmitted to the hospital only once, in July, with hallucinations that doctors believe was due to a medication he was taken – one of the two that were dropped. Another side-effect Dean is experiencing is short-term memory loss and some confusion.

“Sometimes I just forget what I’m saying in the middle of a sentence,” Dean said. Horn said this is a known side-effect with the surgery, and than the temporary nature depends on the cognitive health of the patient.

Despite the long surgery, additional hospital visit and temporary side effects, Dean said basically he is “very happy” he agreed to do it, and gives much of his thanks to Helms. And he is looking forward to returning to Caruso’s so he can stop “driving (his) wife nuts.”