Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 24, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Opinion Canadas health care systems become a Tower of Babel slice of life for one Winnipeg going to an Irish tenors show made a drive to Milwaukee on a crowded interstate Highway worthwhile sunday Winnipeg free press Bruce Owen 6977523 b1 who on the Leash turning to tutors writer Sheila Christie says pets not their owners hold the upper hand in the see Page b3 thousands of Canadian students Are going outside the school sys tem to improve their academic see family Page b3 Lead a thin wire with electrodes that deliver electrical stimulation to the 1us t v a Extension a thin Cable that conducts electrical pulses from the Neur stimulator to the t i 1 thalamus themetalringohaleact1 that transfers to the a nucleus medially located within the ventral nuclei of the it is the specific stimulation target for Active an implantable Battery source and electrical pulse illustration by Gordon Preece Winnipeg free press Neur stimulator Remote control Ian Yamros brain implant relieves Parkinson syndrome the wired Man 1 know where in going to be two years from now if i dont do brain implant gives Parkinson victim a joyous new Outlook on life by Alexandra Paul brain surgery Doest the body is wired with nerve not the Good a patient has to be wide awake for this kind of Ian Yamron Lay conscious As surgeons drilled Small holes in his not once but twice one for each of the implants deep in his the first surgery in Early june lasted 10 the about three weeks took Manitoba creaking healthcare system stalled him More than Yamron had to put up with four cancellations Lack of Fri you name Yamron had a list of medical complications from diabetes to a heart condition that were strikes against the but even before the Drill bit into his Yam Ron knew what to expect if he didst go through with in not afraid of the he said in based on what has taken place in the last i know where in going to be two years from now if i dont do ill be in a wheelchair in a nursing the self described Clown even cracked a joke about the operation with brain surgeon Robert i told Brownstone the first time on the table when he asks How in in going to have an uncontrollable urge to say uttering Nursery rhymes As a probe is poking Down there is the equivalent of a doctors worst Nightmare it can mean the probe is making the patient literally but surgeons need patients to be awake because their physical in response to the surgeons manual Are the Only Way to pinpoint the exact spot to drop in the implant a set of four electrodes at the end of a hair thin it takes hours of careful prodding to find the right spot even with the Aid of Fri images used like Mcnally Road maps to navigate the each touch of the the Width of a sin Gle human causes a sudden a Fin Ger will a knee will the entire Side of a body could a Hole no larger than an oversized postage stamp was drilled in a perfect Square on the right Side of Yamros just above his Yamron describes the sounds of the surgery As strange and cracking the Skull like tearing away it was a crackling the drilling of the holes was not a but the breaking of the brain lining made a crunching it was Yamron Brownstone used a 25centimetre Wand to probe deep inside the brain to the a Grey Oval shaped mass four centimetres in diam it acts As a relay Centre in the brain for body Yamron didst know what his body would do from one probe to the next As Brownstone touched his All of a the whole left Side of my and shoulder would get a but it want they do it again and it would feel soft they were finding the location they wanted and then they narrowed it Down to the one that would give them the Best Brownstone found the spot and Slid in the wire with the four electrodes lined up in a it sounded like a big canister clanking Down Yamron the electrodes Are wired to a Batter powered stimulator that was later implanted under Yam Rons Collar although it sounds the surgery is not without the wires can get infected and theres a three per cent risk of a massive stroke or even a year after there Are some patients who lose parts of their unable to find the words to express their thoughts is an unexpected the surgery itself has an incongruous mechanistic Quality that can strike a bizarre and humorous chord in the one of the funniest things was when the surgery was All Rob Are you of were Yamron the next thing i heard him saying screw Driver they had to unscrew the Halo bracket from the table to free Yamron from his and they needed a screwdriver to do that was Yamron Yamron got in the last cracking his joke about Hickory Rob said hed been expecting it All Yam Ron continued please see wired 62 ill be in a wheelchair in a nursing ;