Starting the DBS process

My doctor (Neurologist/Motion Disorder Specialist) and I have agreed that I am approaching a time where I need to consider DBS.  We'd been discussing it for about a year, but it seems like the right thing to do.  My big issue is that I just started a new job, so don't have a lot of vacation time, so I'm going to try and delay it until the fall, but we haven't even reached that point yet.

The reason I am now looking at DBS is basically two fold:

1. I am taking a huge amount of medication to be able to both work and function (luckily I've had minimal side effects).  However, both my doctor and I are starting to notice some dyskinesia.  I take so much medicine that one of my prescriptions was held up by the pharmacy because I was taking in too often AND in too high a dosage, per my insurance's formulary.  I take three drugs now Azilect, Requip XL and Sinemet (Carbodopa-Levodopa), in quantities that would probably make a person without PD go nuts.
2. My mornings and late evenings SUCK!  It basically takes about 45 minutes for my meds to kick in.  Until that time, I'm a feet shuffling, stumbling, 200 pound locomotive trying to avoid running into the dog, my kids and my wife when I can move and trying to start moving when I'm frozen in a doorway or just getting up from my bed or couch.

Over the next few posts, I'll discuss the process I've been going through and the doctors and therapists I've been meeting with to discuss whether I am a good candidate for the surgery.