Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

My neurosurgeon confirmed that the leads have moved up 10 mm from the location they had placed them.  His scheduling person is contacting my cardiologist to get clearance for me to have another surgery.  Once I am cleared, the neurosurgeon and neurologist will go back into my head and try to figure out why the leads moved.

My surgeon said that there will be three possible solutions he will try, in this order:

1. Put the current leads that are in my head back into place by just moving them back down the 10 mm.  He feels this will be the least risky/invasive.  After they are in place they will assess that I am still getting good results from the leads when they are placed correctly.
2. Remove the current leads and replace them with new ones.  Since they know I had good results during surgery and the first month after (lesion effect), he feels replacing the lead to a known location would be the second best option.
3. Remove the current leads and place new leads in a different target region of the brain.  Currently, the leads are supposed to be located in the GPI region of the brain.  The surgeon would place the new leads in the STN region which is more susceptible to cognitive issue complications, which is one of the reasons my surgeon placed the original leads in the GPI region.

He is also planning to check the locking mechanisms that are used (he said there are three) to see if a failure in part or whole of one or more of the locks may have caused the leads to move.  He also said, he may use a small metal piece to hold the leads down even better during the next surgery.

While I am hesitant to have another surgery after having suffered a stroke the first time, I cannot continue to live like this.  I struggle every morning and most evenings before bed to just walk to/from my bed.  I struggle to get to the bathroom in time before I have to go.  I get frustrated with myself as well as the kids, the dog and my wife when my meds are off and they want me to hurry or move.  When my meds are off, I get so tired just trying to do everyday activities, but it is also a struggle to sleep, because every way I turn is uncomfortable and I struggle just to turn.  Finally, I am taking so many meds, that I worry that the meds will soon enough start causing really bad side effects.  The fact that I can live and work on the amount of medication that I am currently taking is incredible.

So, wish me luck and I'll keep posting before and after surgery to update folks on my progress.