Parky Picasso

I did something completely abnormal for me the other night. I went to a Ladies Paint Night with a friend. Paint and I don't mix well, pun intended. Add in my dexterity problems from having Parkinson's disease and you know that any story involving me and paint is bound to be humorous. After all, my history with painting is awkward to say the least. 

When I was in elementary school, a group of us were invited to be part of a local PBS show where we would be painting a mural. It was a live show, which in today's world, would have been unheard of. About ten minutes into the show, I had to go pee and didn't know what to do or where to go. So I walked up to the presenter, tapped him on his elbow and whispered in his ear, and my whisper was promptly picked up by the microphone! You can just imagine the teasing I got at school the next day.

My next foray into painting was in high school. I was tired of being in the Marching Band and was looking for a different elective-type class to take. Home Economics had no interest for me whatsoever and Shop class was boys only. I didn't even consider Chorus after my disastrous sixth grade talent show performance. So I signed up for Art class. I lasted a week, before the teacher took me aside and strongly suggested I go back to Marching Band.

After that, the only painting I did involved paint rollers, gallons of paint, and lots of drop-cloths and interior or exterior walls of houses. I didn't even do the touch ups around the windows and doors. That part was always done by someone else.

So, when my friend Sandy invited me to go with her to a Ladies Paint Night at her church, I should have said no, but I shocked myself and said yes! I warned her that my painting might be the only abstract one in the group. She laughed. 

We walked into the hall, paid our $5 fee, grabbed a blank canvas, brushes of various sizes, containers for water and went and found a seat. The various colors of paint needed were already on the tables and foam plates to be used as our palettes. There were also clean up rags and t-shirts to keep our clothes paint-free.

This is what we would be painting this time:

The first thing we did was paint the entire canvas in the mottled background colors, including the sides. I used a 2-inch brush and had a very difficult time making the big strokes needed. Then we drew the circles for the faces and filled them in. We drew the outlines of the hats and chose our colors individually, so everyones was different. We were to use small, repetitive strokes for the beards, and that gave me lots of trouble (stupid Parkinson's) but I managed. 

Each part of the painting was divided into simple shapes; ovals for the eyes, noses and hands, rectangles for the sleeves and lantern, Hershey Kisses shapes for the feet. We worked on the top while the bottom dried and vice versa. 

The last thing we did was the highlights and outlines. The funny thing is the part I thought would give me the most problems, making thin lines, turned out to be the easiest. Two hours later, we were done. 

Can you find YumaBev?

We posed for a group photo and afterwards I asked the teacher if she'd consider doing a Parky Paint Night? It turns out she has her own Neurological disease, Multiple Sclerosis, but said she'd consider it.  

The one above the teacher painted during class.

And here's mine!

Parky Gnomes by YumaBev

Maybe this Parky CAN paint after all!!!!

I'm already looking forward to the next class. 


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Charging This Parky

Since I opted for the Medtronic Activa™RC rechargeable IPG to control my Parkinson's disease symptoms, I have to charge it regularly. I've become just like a cell phone and no, I don't have a plug in my chest. Instead it works using the same type of technology that the wireless cell phone chargers use (something to do with magnets and coils.)

The charging system consists of three pieces:

The power cord

The transformer, which is one of those black boxes that always seem to be attached to anything with a battery, like laptops, karaoke machines, etc.

And the charger with antenna attached

The power cord connects to the transformer, which connects to the charger, which then charges the charger. Got it? 

Why do I have that children's song about Bones playing in my head? "The toe bone's connected to the heel bone, the heel bone's connected to the leg bone..." Sorry, it's my warped sense of humor.

When the charger is fully charged, it will stop charging, so it's okay to leave it plugged into the wall outlet when not using it. 

Before I left the hospital, Joey, the Medtronic rep, showed me how to place the charger's antenna over the IPG implanted in my chest and which buttons to use. The top green button starts the charging process. The middle black button with an X, stops the charging process. The bottom button with the speaker symbol on it, turns the sound on or off. The two buttons on the side don't get used with DBS. 

That's it! Green for GO, X for STOP. Simple!

Joey also gave me some adhesive disks that go on the antenna to help hold it in place on my shirt. If you use the stickies, the antenna should NOT be placed directly on your skin. I'm still using the first sticky! 

Placing the antenna properly takes a bit of practice in order to get the maximum number of 'bars'. Eight bars will charge faster than six, four or two. The screen refreshes every 60-seconds.

The antenna also has a dial which you can turn to get more bars. 

The charger will beep at you if the antenna moves and drops to zero bars. The charger will also beep when your IPG is fully charged.

Fully charged 

Since my settings are very low (1.4/2.0) I could probably only recharge once a month. However, the more discharged the IPG is, the longer it will take to recharge it. I charge mine every Sunday. I figure it's an easy day for me to remember since I've already filled my weekly pill box on that day.

How long does it take? I'm not sure. I charge while I'm watching TV and haven't thought to pay much attention to the clock. If it beeps, I check to see if the antenna has moved, and usually the beep is the 'fully charged' beep. 

Cell Phones, iPads, Tablets, Laptops, YumaBev...Things That Must Be Charged

It's been four weeks since I had my Medtronic DBS for Parkinson's disease IPG (battery) replaced with a rechargeable version. The incision is completely healed and all the bruising is gone. Dr. Norton cut right along the previous incision so there's still only one little scar. In my opinion, it looks better than before. 

New rechargeable IPG

It certainly doesn't protrude as much as the previous non-rechargeable unit, and that is a good thing.

Old IPG

What else is different? Not much, except now I have become just like all of my electronic devices: I have to be charged regularly. 

My male friends have warped senses of humor and have suggested hooking me up to a Jump Starter or perhaps adding a super-charged turbo to it. They've also wondered what would happen if I got Tasered (I hope I never find out.) This is what happens when you hang out with car guys who are retired FBI, Military and Police, but they sure do make me laugh. 

The screen on my Patient programmer looks different. Instead of a screen showing the battery life in Voltage, it shows a percentage of how much charge I have left (much like Wonderful Husband's tablet.)

I have 75% charge left

I keep all our chargers in one spot. I keep my DBS Patient programmer there too.

Cell phone & tablet chargers & patient programmer

Now I just added the DBS charging system. It is kind of bulky. 

DBS charging system on the left

Medtronic provided me with a carrying bag. It might work okay, if you take out all the manuals and extra items you won't ever use, but it's bulky.

Medtronic DBS carrying bag

So, I did what I do best! I went thrift store shopping and found a cute little soft-sided bag with a zipper top for less than a dollar. 

YumaBev's cute little 'Charger' bag

Everything fits with room to spare and since it's see-through, you can easily to find whichever charger you need.

Plus the new little bag with everything in it only weighs a little more than the empty Medtronic one.

I'm all charged up and ready to go, just like the Energizer Bunny! 

A Stitch in Time

It's been eight days since my Parkinson's DBS battery replacement surgery, and I have a follow-up appointment in Tucson. We overslept, so we quickly got ready and left Yuma at 7:15am. We had an easy drive with very little traffic. We had a very short visit with Mr. Brooks in the VA Hospital, then drove to Dr. Norton's office. 

I usually take my half a carbi/levodopa tablet AFTER I have my cereal with milk, but today, because we slept late, I took it on an empty stomach and I was now having noticeable dyskinesias in both feet. 

When I checked in, I was told I had no co-pay. That was a pleasant surprise. 

The Center had an Alzheimer's Awareness Month display with purple balloons, purple ribbons and purple frosted cupcakes. Another surprise.

We hadn't had any breakfast and we were hungry, so Wonderful Hubby and I each grabbed a cupcake. I ended up with purple frosting on my hands and face. No surprise there.

I was in the restroom trying to wash it off, when I heard Dr. Norton call my name. Yes, he comes out to the waiting area to get his own patients!

I hurried out and Wonderful and I walked back to his exam room with Dr. Norton. 

"Did you get your device?" Dr. Norton asked.

Device? I'm thinking to myself, what is he talking about? Then it dawned on me, he was asking about my old IPG. Yes, I said, I got it that same day.

"I see you are having some dyskinesias" Dr. Norton said.

"I told you he'd notice" Wonderful said.

As I sat in the exam room, I asked Dr. Norton if all his DBS surgeries are as humorous as mine. 

"Only yours" Dr. Norton says, chuckling, "only yours." 

Wonderful says,"I was stuck out there in the waiting area worrying, and you guys are having fun, it's not fair."

Before Dr Norton removes suture

Dr. Norton snips the knot off one end of the suture and grabs the other end with tweezers and gives a gentle pull. It comes right out. He holds up the 3-inch long piece of blue suture and says, "looks like fishing line, doesn't it?"

He grabs his Medtronic DBS programmer, checks everything and asks me if I want him to lower the settings to calm my dyskinesias. 

After suture is out

I say, no, I'll be fine after I eat. 

I tell Dr. Norton to check out the blog stories, he says he will, and we are done. 

YumaBev & Dr. Thomas Norton

As we are walking out, he says "I'm here if you need me, if not, I will see you in 15 years." 

That's a deal, I say. 

On our way home, I manage to pull off the highway and snap a picture of a saguaro cactus that looks like it's waiting for a hug. A very nice surprise.

The Hugger Saguaro

We got back home at 6:15pm: a 475 mile, eleven-hour day for a 10-minute appointment. Was it worth it? YES. No surprises there. 

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The Morning After: Size Does Matter

Last night, I had taken the gauze bandage off before I put my pajamas on. I was supposed to wait 24-hours but the paper-tape was irritating my skin.  

I wasn't in any pain, and I'm sure the numbing agent had worn off by now but I took another Tylenol tablet before bed, just in case.

I slept well and spent most of the night on my left side, with a pillow between my right arm and my side. I did wake up once and I was sleeping on my right side and the pillow was down by my feet. I have no idea how it got there. I only felt a little discomfort when I got out of bed in the night to go pee. 

In the morning, I decided to take a look and see what the incision looked like. It doesn't look too bad. Most of the redness is from the paper-tape that held the gauze bandage in place. My skin really hates sticky stuff.

YumaBev's incision, morning after surgery

Wonderful Hubby had already got his shower at the hotel and he suggested I wait until we got home because the water pressure was really strong and the tub floor was kind of slippery. Since my incision looked okay and I wasn't in any pain, we decided to head for Yuma. 

Sitting in the passenger side of the car with the seatbelt rubbing across the incision would be painful, so I drove. We got lucky, all the traffic was going in the opposite direction. We stopped once for a bathroom break and a second time to have a snack and we got back to Yuma just in time for lunch.  

So, which did I choose? Regular or Rechargeable??

Yes, size does matter. I went with the smaller, thinner rechargeable IPG from Medtronic. 

Comparing the sample IPGs

It's hard to tell how big the regular one is, so I took pictures of my old IPG with a standard deck of playing cards. 

It's big! Especially if you are thin like me. I can already see the difference, and I won't need it replaced for at least FIFTEEN years! The surgery was a lot less painful than I expected. 

PS I called to check on Dr. Norton. He's fine and doing extra surgeries this week to get caught up. That man is AMAZING!

It's a Boy, It's a Girl, NO it's ......

We get back to our hotel and I call the hospital and ask for the Pathology department. A woman answers and I ask about getting the IPG they removed from me earlier. She says this is the lab and I don't know what you are talking about. I thought about saying 'Chocolate or Yellow Lab', but I just ask if she can transfer me to Pathology. She says yes.

"Pathology, this in Ingrid." 

Hi, Ingrid. I'm Beverly Ribaudo, I just had surgery and I'd like to have the IPG they removed from me. I have my medical record number, if you need it.

"Okay?? You want what?"

It's a small chunk of metal, similar to a pacemaker. The surgeon, Dr. Norton said it's okay if I take it home with me.

"Okay, let me see if we have it. What's your date of birth? I found it. When are you leaving the hospital?"

It was outpatient surgery, I'm already back at the hotel. We go back to Yuma tomorrow.

"Let me see how quickly we can process it. It might be tomorrow morning before I can get one of our Pathology Doctors to sign off on it. May I have your phone number?"

Thank you Ingrid.

I am hungry. There's a McDonald's across the street from the hotel, so Wonderful Hubby walks over and gets us burgers and fries. After we eat, we decide to take a nap. I have no pain, but take a Tylenol tablet just in case. I am just dozing off when...

The phone rings, it's Ingrid. My 'specimen' is ready to be picked up. She says I'm to go to the Maternity, Labor & Delivery entrance and then call her. She says she's there until 5:30pm. I tell her I will be there in an hour or so (I really NEED that nap.)

After my nap, we drive back to the hospital and find the Maternity entrance. We are the only people who aren't carrying balloons, gifts or flowers. Once inside, I call Ingrid and she comes to meet us. We follow her down hallways and through an unmarked door and she goes and gets a form for me to sign and hands me a brown paper bag.

My IPG baby 

I asked how she managed to get it done so quickly. She said she just asked the Doctor if he could rush it and he said yes. Then she says she was almost born in Yuma. Her Dad was military and he was stationed in Yuma, but her Mom decided to drive to San Diego to have her baby.  

Ingrid asked me what I was going to do with it?

With as serious a face as I could manage, I said 
"Sell it on eBay, of course." Then I started giggling.

I took a peek inside my paper bag and she walked us back out to Maternity. I felt silly carrying a paper bag when everyone else was holding babies. 

YumaBev's specimen in sealed container

It's a boy, it's a girl, no it's.............an IPG! 

Yes, this is the actual IPG that has been inside me since October 25, 2012. That's a LONG gestation period. I think I will refer to "it" as a she. Why? Because a he would have quit working years ago!

Activa PC "Pretty Cute"

Oh my, these Parkinson's Humor blog stories are almost writing themselves.

We stopped at Subway and picked up some sandwiches on the way back to the hotel. 

I'm still in no pain. Tonight we watched Grumpier Old Men on TV and laughed some more. 

June 13th, Surgery Day

Warning: Graphic surgical photo included. 

We arrive at the Tucson Medical Center at 8:30am and get in the Valet Parking line. The attendant arrives and we head inside. We go up to the outpatient surgery floor, I get checked in and pay my co-pay. The hospital wants their money before surgery. I no sooner get done and my name is being called, so we head back to pre-op.

Nurse Esther gives me the designer one-size-fits-absolutely-no-one gown and says take off everything and put it in the bag, EVERYTHING. She pulls the privacy curtain and I comply.

YumaBev ready for surgery

A few minutes later, a fellow comes in and says "I'm the lab guy."

Without missing a beat, Wonderful Hubby says "Chocolate or Yellow Lab?" 

The labs guy starts laughing, says he's never heard that one before.


A few minutes later, Joey the Medtronic Rep comes in. He checks my current settings and will make sure the new IPG is set the exact same way. He says he'll see me in the OR (operating room) and leaves.


Dr. Norton pokes his head around the curtain. He's wearing multiple surgical masks and gives Hubby a fist bump and me a thumbs up. I ask how he's feeling. He says the cold came on quickly, but he took some Nyquil last night and is feeling well enough to do my battery change but cancelled the brain drill and generator placement surgeries scheduled prior to me. I thanked him. He said it's okay, I can't see you having to drive all the way over here again. He marked an X on my right shoulder (hospital rules, he mumbled) and listened to my heart and lungs. 

I asked him if I can have the old IPG that they are removing? He said he'd ask, but he didn't see why not, after all, you paid for it. 

He said Dr. Robin Kloth, the anesthesiologist who did my original surgeries will be in to see me soon. I'm glad. I like Dr. Kloth, she's nice and wears colorful shoes. Dr. Norton leaves. 


A few minutes later, a man comes in. "I'm Dr. Offerdahl, anesthesiologist. Dr. Kloth is in another surgery, so I will be filling in. Is that okay?" 

Do you have colorful shoes?

He looks down and says just boring brown.

How about colorful socks?

Looks down again and says no, but at least they match today. I've been known to wear one white and one dark. 

I like this guy's sense of humor but I find it funny that he had to look to see what color shoes he had on. 

I tell Dr. Offerdahl about my adhesive allergies and ask him to get the EKG pads off me as soon as possible. I also tell him that I want to be as wide awake as possible so I can blog about it. He says how about I give you just a bit of Propofol when Norton is doing the painful numbing shots? Then I will wake you right up again. I say okay.


I kiss Wonderful Hubby goodbye and Nurse Esther takes him out to the waiting area. 

YumaBev ready to go

Dr. Offerdahl says "I'll give you a shot of whiskey when we get in the OR." 

I say I prefer tequila. 

"Tequila?" he says.

Jose Cuervo Light Peach Tequila, please.

"Wow, you're exact aren't you!" 

And off we go. As he is wheeling me down hallways and around corners, he keeps bumping the gurney into the walls.

Turkey or Jack? I say.

"What?"

Wild Turkey or Jack Daniels? I say. Which did you have for breakfast, because you're driving like you are drunk! 

He laughs. "This surgery should be interesting."

We get to the OR, they slide me over on the surgical table, tuck my arms in, give me a warm blanket and an oxygen mask.

Dr. Norton says "Dr. Kloth, your voice is much lower and you've gained weight." I pipe in and say "and you have boring shoes." We are all laughing. 

Poor Dr. Offerdahl, he must think we're all nuts.

As Dr. Norton is doing his thing, he tells the OR nurse to figure out how to get me the IPG he removes. He's telling them about my blog and how I kept the drill bit he used on me during my DBS brain surgery six years ago. I say "I wish we could Live Stream this on Facebook. I want to see what you are doing." 

YumaBev's actual surgical site

I ask Dr. Norton if he ever plans to retire? (he's 79) His reply:

"No, I will just keel over during surgery.
Dr. Offerdahl will try to revive me.
He will be unsuccessful.
My estate will then sue him.
And he will end up living in his car."

Dr. Offerdahl says, "I'm not filling in for Dr. Kloth anymore."

I'm laughing so hard that it's difficult to stay still. 

I can feel the sensation of Dr. Norton suturing me. There's no pain at all. He says he's done and going to find my hubby. I ask Joey to take a picture of Dr. Norton and me. Two other male voices chime in and say "We want to be in the picture, too!"

(L-R) OR nurse Chris, YumaBev, Dr Offerdahl, Dr Norton

And we were done. They slid me back on the gurney, wheeled me to recovery, Dr. Offerdahl said this was the silliest surgery he had done and he disappeared. Wonderful Hubby came in. A nurse went over the post-op care sheet with us. Another person said I should call pathology later because they have the IPG in their possession.

Joey came in to make sure my new device was working properly. A nurse sent Hubby down to get the car from Valet and another nurse helped me get dressed. They wheeled me down to the car and Hubby drove us back to the hotel. It wasn't even Noon. 

Looks like the 13th wasn't a bad day for surgery after all.

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I Could Have Waited...

I could have waited to schedule my DBS for Parkinson's Medtronic IPG replacement surgery. My battery was still at 2.57V and it might be months before it dropped to 2.20V and stopped working. Then again, it might drop really fast. It's the unpredictability that bothered me. 

Back in January of 2019, when I realized it would need to be replaced soon, I would have been thrilled if "soon" was in June or July. Why? The days are longer. You see, Wonderful Hubby would have to drive me back to our hotel room after surgery, and he can't see to drive in the dark. If I could just hold out until mid-June, we'd be okay. 

I was getting tired of putting off any kind of travel or vacation plans and tired of checking my voltage level daily. So, I got ahold of Vanessa, Dr. Norton's assistant and asked if anything was available mid-June or later. She said how about Thursday, June 13th? I could have the Noon time slot and should be out of there by late afternoon. June 13th?? Well, at least it wasn't Friday the 13th. I said okay. 

It's now June 12th, we'd driven over from Yuma earlier (240 miles,) visited our friend Mr Brooks in the Tucson VA hospital, filled up the gas tank in our car, had a early dinner and now we were relaxing in our room at the Varsity Club Resort in Tucson. Believe it or not, we got a one-bedroom suite at a better rate than the other not-as-nice hotels near Tucson Medical Center. 

Wonderful Hubby relaxing.

We were watching the movie Grumpy Old Men on TV. I'd forgotten how humorous this movie was. I was laughing so hard, I almost wet my pants. 

We went to bed early, and had the alarm set for 8am, since I had to be at the hospital at 10am for replacement surgery at Noon. I was sleeping really well, until...my cell phone started playing music very early in the morning. 

I have different ringtones for my various groups of contacts: Kodachrome for Camera Club, Friends in Low Places for neighbors, Little Red Corvette for Corvette Club, Lime In The Coconut for Medical and Shake, Shake, Shake Your Booty for Parkies.

My phone on the nightstand next to me was playing Shake, Shake, Shake. I groggily answered hello.

"Hi, this is Stephanie, have you left yet?"

What? I mumbled.

"This is Stephanie, from Tucson Medical Center, have you left Yuma yet?"

What?? Huh?

Slower and more clearly "This is Stephanie, from Tucson Medical Center, Dr. Norton is sick, he's canceling all of todays surgeries. Have you already left Yuma to come to Tucson? He wanted me to catch you before you drove all the way over here. That's why I'm calling you so early. Have you left Yuma yet?"

Dr. Norton sick!? Now, I'm wide awake. Hi Stephanie, we are already in Tucson, at the hotel just down the street from the hospital. We came yesterday. What's wrong with Dr. Norton, is he okay?

"You are already here? Can I call you back in a few minutes?" 

Sure, no problem.

Phone rings five minutes later. "Hi Bev, I just talked to Dr. Norton, since you are already here and it's just a battery change, he's going to go ahead and do your surgery. He cancelled the others. He came down with a bad cold yesterday evening. He said he'd double mask, so you won't get sick. Can you be at the hospital at 9am, he'll do you at 10am?"

Sure, I said, by the way Stephanie, what time is it?

"5:45 she said."

I was beginning to wonder if I made a mistake choosing the 13th? And I was worried about Dr. Norton. But we got up and I got ready. I had planned on putting my hair in a single braid. I figured it would keep it out of the way, but my fingers wouldn't cooperate. I went downstairs to the front desk, hoping maybe there'd be a lady on duty, but there was a man. I checked the fitness room, just men. I went back to the room and asked Wonderful Hubby if he could braid my hair. 

He said he'd give it a try.

Who knew Hubby could braid hair?

The phone rings at 8am, it's a Tucson number. It's the hospital calling, they want me there as soon as possible, so Hubby eats a quick breakfast, and I drive us there. 

Maybe I should have waited......

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