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Tonight, the conclusion to our report on Joe Max's journey. After trying a combination of prescription medication to treat his Parkinson's disease, Joe's medical team suggested a procedure called deep brain stimulation. It's not new, but you'll hear from his doctors. Perhaps it needs to be discussed earlier in treatment. As for Joe's outcome, well, let's just say we're thankful he's not hiding anymore. There's too much of an upside to not try it and there's very minor downside. DBS requires three separate surgeries. Okay. Silk electrodes are precisely placed deep into his brain on the left side first.
Four weeks later, electrodes go into the right side. And a week after that, a device, think of it as a controller, is implanted into his chest that connects to the electrodes. when he woke up. It took about 45 minutes and then I realized I'm like, "Man, there's nothing going on here." I called my mom afterwards and she's like, "How are you doing?" I'm like, "You know, nothing's shaking." That was my corny joke. And she laughed and uh of course only you. Yeah. That was my kind of joke, right? That dry humor a sure sign the Joe we know and love was back.
What was your reaction? Oh gosh, it was so exciting. Finally letting go of a breath that I had been holding for months. Full recovery took another 5 weeks and Joe took these selfies. The incision healing, his hair growing back, now hiding his scar, the life back in his eyes. Do you remember when you came back after your surgery and you came to my office? It was wonderful. You were incredibly happy. You were emotional. You were It was cool. There was life there again. Do you see that?
Oh, absolutely. And that's been one of my favorite parts about this experience again. It's just seeing that confidence come back. We're excited to travel again, excited to go out to dinner. I love steakous and I'm so excited that now we can go to steakous again. Again, it's a silly little thing, but you know, it's things that we used to take for granted. Do you feel like you're you're back to where you were before or do things still feel different mentally and emotionally and energywise? I feel like I'm in my 30s again. DBS isn't a cure, but it's a fabulous treatment, especially in the right person. It's more than fabulous. So, yes, Joe still has Parkinson's disease, and he meets with his neurology
team every 2 to 3 months to finetune the controller. Watch here as the level on the device is turned off. Horrible. The shaking is immediate. The treatment involves constant adjustment as the disease still exists in Joe's nervous system. I don't want to forget I have it or had it or have still have it obviously because I don't want to lose the joy that I feel now by forgetting what I went through, you know, because that was a battle. I think one of the debates and our surgeon is part of this is when do we do the surgery? Maybe we should be doing this earlier with everybody. You know, why do we even wait to make somebody kind of miserable on the oral meds when we've got surgery for them?
The idea of being able to intervene super early. I think you would end up seeing a generation of Parkinson's patients that look fundamentally different than what we've ever seen before. I'm still trying to break a lot of those habits to be honest with you. Joe wanted to show us the path near his apartment he shares with Tracy. It was a warm sunny day. Ever the experienced producer to his core. Make sure you get the bridge. I don't know. I just think it looks cool. Assured that scenic backdrop is behind us.
It felt like a good time to reflect. You talked about there were moments when you were in the depths of Parkinson's where you thought, why me? Why did I get chosen for this? Yeah. Does it make sense now? Is this your new purpose? I'm glad you said that. I It does. I would like to figure out a way to make this my purpose. I've been hanged in such an amazing opportunity. Thank you for doing this. Of course. It's like I want to I want people to feel the way I feel. It's so wonderful what how much my life is back and how great I feel. I want more people to feel this way. I really do.
See how confident he's walking there in our hallways? Now, I said this is the conclusion of our report, but it's not the conclusion of Joe's journey. He is sharing his experience with other patients considering DBS. His hope is they rediscover independence and joy in the simple things just like he has. We are providing an extended version of our reporting on our streaming channel and also our website. And if we can take a picture now of our control room, Joe is back where he belongs. Right there in his seat. Oh man, KJ. Joe spends his career on the other side of the camera. And we just saw some He's better on TV than any of us.
Oh, we better watch out, right, Lonnie? I know. But there he is back in his spot. And Joe, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you to Mount Si, the doctors there, the staff there who helped us uh deliver this very important message to all people living with Parkinson's. Um it's something definitely to consider and Joe is there um as an prime example. Something else. All right, Lonnie. AJ. Wow. I just love the fact that this has fallen on his plate and he's like, "Whoa, I'm going to embrace this now.
This is now my purpose." Um bravo. Bravo to you, Joe and KJ. Good storytelling. As I said yesterday, I'm blown away by that story.
