Their journey still takes them back to Gainesville every 30 days so doctors can re-calibrate PJ’s settings.
“Then again every seven to 10 days I’ll be adjusting him to the new voltage levels because it’s a very tedious process to dial him up properly,” Diane Green said.
She says so far, it’s paying off.
“We’re pretty excited; we’ve already noticed some very simple changes,” Green said.
PJ says his pain and dyskinesia are both at least 50% better.
“You’re out and about, and your leg is just going 90 miles an hour, and you’re doing everything you can to try and stop it,” Delaney said. “Just to be able to put my leg down and not feel a bit of dyskinesia is awesome.”
His improvements reach far below the surface.
“I’m a lot more outgoing and personable than I was,” Delaney said.
“His voice has come back a lot stronger,” Green said. “[It’s] not as strong as it once was, but it’s definitely improved.”
DBS has given him his smile and some of his life back.
“It was just a good feeling to walk again,” Delaney said.
He’s getting stronger with every stride. He rides his bike in the pool everyday, and he’s even back on the golf course.
“”We’re very, very hopeful, as to where we are today, as to what’s coming. It’s all good,” Green said, but that doesn’t mean any of it’s been easy.
“I think I expected more after the day they activated his battery, but I’ve learned it’s a process,” Green said.
It’s a process that’s not ending here.
“…because he has another procedure a few months later scheduled to implant the other side of the brain,” Dr. Kelly Foote said.
Dr. Foote and his team decided doing PJ’s right side would make the biggest difference, first, but in December, he’ll put a DBS lead in the left side.
“We’ll give one side of the brain plenty of time to recover from the invasion before we do the other side,” Dr. Foote said.
It will still be several months before he truly gets the maximum benefits DBS can offer, and even then, PJ knows he won’t magically turn back into the basketball and tennis player he was before Parkinson’s.
“It’s not a cure but a good support to getting better results,” Delaney said.
That’s all he’s ever asked for.
“You don’t believe anything until you actually feel it and experience it,” he said.
That’s why they wanted you to see every detail, for any other PJ’s out there who may need a little push to go get their life back.
“I really feel it’s a game changer, as far as day-to-day living and lifestyle,” Green said.
“Now I just go for it and do what feels best to do for me,” Delaney said.