Ray Farkas - One Patient's Story
Ray Farkas is an Emmy Award-winning TV producer. Since 2000, he has been battling Parkinson's Disease. When his tremors began to take over his body and his life, he decided to undergo a complex and risky procedure called deep brain stimulation (DBS). Though numbed with local anesthesia during the operation, Ray was awake while doctors drilled holes in his skull and implanted electrical wires in his brain.
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Dr. Chris Kalhorn and Ray Farkas
on the Oprah Show - April 2004
Award Winning TV Producer Ray Farkas documents his own surgery at Georgetown University Hospital. Visit www.offcentertv.com to view his documentary, or
click the Documentary image
below.
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Ray risked his life for the operation, but he says the end result was more than worth it. "One of the things I'm looking forward to now is playing with my grandchildren," he says. "I didn't have any hope of that before. It's worth the price of admission right there."
The neurosurgeon who performed the operation is Dr. Chris Kalhorn. He demonstrated how, with a flip of a switch, Ray's tremors can be turned on and off. Of this medical breakthrough, Dr. Kalhorn says, "The best candidates for surgery are people like Ray, who have Parkinson's Disease that is not well controlled with medication and who are otherwise healthy."
If you'd like to obtain more information about Ray Farkas, you can visit his website at www.offcentertv.com.
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