We finally decided DBS (deep brain stimulation) surgery was the best treatment for me. One of the pre-operative steps was to assess my cognitive functions. If there were signs of pre-existing cognitive problems, DBS surgery could make them worse. The electrodes (wires) are implanted into the Globus Pallidus Interna of the brain. This area of the brain neighbors the cognitive functions. What does all that mean? The electrodes could affect my “mad skills”.
These tests would hopefully identify things like attention, memory, language recall and verbal fluency. They even identify early dementia. I met with the neuropsychologist for about an hour. She was able to rule out depression and a false sense of hope regarding the outcome of the surgery.
Then the fun really started with four hours of testing, which was videotaped.
- The guy administrating the test rattled off a list of 20 items like – elephant, truck, blue etc. and I had to repeat as many words as I could remember
- Then I had to count how many even numbers there were in a string of numbers, i.e. 1, 7, 2, 9, etc. (no cheating by counting on my hands)
- Now I had to recall as many words as possible from the previous list of words
- I was given a new list of words and had to repeat as many as I could remember
- Then I had to repeat as many as I could from the original list of words
- Articulate the meaning of certain words
- A story was read aloud to me. I had to repeat the story the best I could in chronological order with as much detail as I could remember
- I was given another string of numbers. This time I had to count how many times the 2 was given
- Another story was read aloud and I had to repeat everything the best I could
- Again, I had to try to repeat as many words as I could remember from the original list of words
- I was shown 50 picture cards of various items – shoe, baby, apple etc. I had to list off as many items as I could remember
- More numbers, more lists, more stories, more word meanings, more picture cards
- Retell the third story in order and give as much detail as I could remember
It’s been a year since surgery and sometimes I struggle with word recollection. You know that feeling when a word is on the tip of your tongue but you just can’t grasp it? At other times I feel tongue-tied. This happens more often than before surgery. Other than that, I can’t tell the difference.
Me Myself and My Dystonia 