A chilling antidote to misery

The Star ^ | June 4, 2006 | Michael Bowers

[OkeyDokeyOkie]

A Southern guy must be in tremendous pain if he is willing to fly to Chicago so that a neurosurgeon from Loyola University Health Systems can bury two batteries in his chest, drill two holes into his skull and plant two wires in his brain.

Will Hooper did just so a little more than two years ago, when he was a 24-year-old computer technology student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He had been suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder since age 10.

Will is one of about 50 people worldwide who have undergone this experimental surgery. His doctor at Loyola, Douglas Anderson, is one of the pioneers of the procedure, which is called deep-brain stimulation.

[OkeyDokeyOkie]

Will Hooper's tribulations with OCD are painful to read, but Michael Bowers' article offers hope for those sufferers for whom traditional treatments have been unsuccessful. For Hooper to submit to having holes drilled into his skull and wires attached to his brain in what was deemed an experimental surgery is a sign not only of his determination to overcome the effects of OCD, but also of his bravery. I commend Will Hooper and I thank the author of this column for bringing this radical, but apparently successful surgical treatment to light.

[TYVets]

He had been suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder since age 10.

That was about the age I started accumulating needed fishing lures.

I hope my wife does not hear about this procedure.

[coconutt2000]

If you fish a lot, you have a valid defense. :-)

If you don't... *shrug*

[thoughtomator]

I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD! I'm glad I don't have OCD!

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! v Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too! Me too!

[Larry Lucido]

The surgery worked so good for me, I go back and have it done again every week.

[NonValueAdded]

yo, Adrian!

[OkeyDokeyOkie]

I know OCD is sometimes the topic of good-natured humor, but imagine having one's life or the life of one's child so affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder that it is impossible to function in school or in business or in life, itself. The man described in the article had to have reached the point of utter desperation when he agreed to undergo such a drastic procedure. His willingness to take such enormous risks has paid off not only for him, but also for potentially thousands of others whose lives are a living hell because of medicine-resistent OCD. The surgery is, of course, an understandably last resort, but in spite of its extreme nature, the surgery offers hope to thousands who now have the potential to live their lives without the burden of having to deal with OCD.

[bootless]

I'm interested in reading how Will's surgery went. All kidding aside, having OCD is like being trapped in your own brain. I don't have it, but am close to someone who does. It's heartbreaking.

[SmithL]

The follow-up is posted here: BOWERS: Will Hooper puts his mind under the knife