Deep brain stimulation is now being used to treat people with behavior disorders. That was
the case for a Lancaster County man. His life is changed forever. Here's Travis Rohrer's journey.
>>27 year old Travis Rohrer works part time. I work at Yoder's Country Market in New Holland
and I work in the frozen foods department. >>Travis is also very active in his church.
>>I am elector but what you would normally call a lay reader because that's what lecter
means. I'm one of them, not the only. I'm also one of the guys in charge of the lights in our
church sanctuary and I'm also one of the guys in charge of the ceiling fan that are in this church
sanctuary. >>This is Travis now. He's come a long way. Travis was diagnosed with autism when he was
a child. >>What led to that diagnosis was that we noticed as he approached his second birthday
that he wasn't talking, he wasn't really playing with toys, he wasn't waving bye-bye, he wasn't
interacting with people. >>As Travis got older, he developed obsessive-compulsive disorder.
>>His particular obsession was with fans. Any kind of fans, ceiling fans,
window vans and he became so obsessed that it just affected every aspect of his behavior
and it affected every aspect of his life and our family's life. >>I just like the way the blade
on the fan would you know spin especially on hot days. That's what actually got me
like fans because i just like seen the blade spin especially on hot days. >>Robin did some research
and learned deep brain stimulation could be used to treat OCD. >>When I first met Travis
he was having a lot of trouble with obsessions and they were really interfering with his life
and so really, his life was turned totally upside down by the problems that he had.
>>Dr. McInerney is the first doctor that gave us any hope for having this procedure done and he
walked in the room and talked about the specifics of the surgery and how the procedure is done. >>At
first I was nervous about it because especially, I was afraid of spending overnight in the hospital
by myself but after mom told me that she would be with me every single second, especially overnight
in the hospital, I was then open to it. >>So, we do this in a three-step process. The first step is
a planning process where we, you know, get scans of his brain MRI, CT scans where we can measure
everything out and figure out where we want to go. Second step, we go into the operating room
and that's the big brain operation where we actually implant the wires into the brain using
the plans we made at the first step, we test them and make sure everything is working okay in there
and then we stop. And the last part of it, is where we connect the wires to the battery and
computer that runs everything. And then, he's all hooked up and ready to go. We had to wait about
three to four weeks after the brain surgery. They have to wait until
any brain swelling or inflammation goes down before they turn the battery on.
And we noticed almost immediately after the battery was turned on that Travis's demeanor
changed for the positive. He became more social,
he was interacting more with us and talking more with us. >>His mom was just overwhelmed I think.
Maybe a good way I don't want to speak for her but you know in her conversation with me she
just couldn't believe how much easier it was for him to get through a day. It was just dramatically
different. >>Travis is well aware how a small device has made a huge difference in his life.
>>I'm doing a lot more things with my with my friends now than I was before the surgery
and it actually makes me feel great about it. >>The success of this procedure has exceeded our
greatest hopes. To see him living independently and going to work and having a life of his own was
just something we never even could have imagined before. He's made such incredible progress
the results have just exceeded our wildest imagination. >>And how does it make you feel
that you were a part of this? >>It's so humbling to be a part of you know watching somebody's story
get to be closer to the rest of ours to help somebody themselves get out of bed every morning
with a purpose is just incredibly meaningful and I'm just so very grateful to be able to help out
that way. >>My life has actually been a lot better since I had my surgery because before I had the
surgery I was just upset all the time but after I had the surgery, I've actually been, felt a lot
more happier. >> And if you could say something to Dr. McInerney what would you tell him? >>I
would say, thank you to him to make me feel more improved. So, that's always a good sign. >>Such
a heartwarming story. Travis was on 15 different medications prior to the surgery, now he's down to
five. What a difference it has made in his life. And joining us is Dr. Jim McInerney, director of
stereotactic neurosurgery at Penn State Health and also Travis's surgeon. Do you need a tissue?
What a difference. What a difference you made in his life. How does that make you feel? >>It really
is a special thing to be able to do and I'm just very, as I said in the piece, I'm very grateful
to be able to help anybody but with Travis, it was, you know, it was a lot of work but it was
just so rewarding and you know, as I said, this is what you know makes us get out of bed every day.
It's hard to describe the feeling but I guess maybe, I can say this, this is our Super Bowl.
>>Well certainly, he won the Super Bowl that's for sure. Let's talk about the procedure you
mentioned. It's a three-step process. Talk to us a little bit more about it. >>Sure. Well,
the first part is is really the planning part. There's a very little bit of surgery there put
some screws in to measure with. That happens one day. Patients usually come back a week later for
the implantation part which is you know that's the brain operation so, that's a bigger deal
and we have to be very particular about getting these wires into the right target, they're very
small targets, they're small wires. Testing them, making sure they're not having any side effects
or anything, once we get them in position we finish for that date and we watch those patients
overnight that's the one night in the hospital that people usually spend. Then we bring them back
a week later and hook those wires up to the little battery computer, the pulse generator we call it,
which is a same-day procedure. Pretty quick and they go home after that procedure is over. >>Talk
to us a little bit about the recovery. >>Sure, so you know recovery I don't think it's too bad.
As i said, it's one night in the hospital it is a brain operation so it's not nothing and yet
I think most of our patients are able to to go home and you know, do you know regular you know
stay-at-home type routine things within the first week after surgery. Sometimes they feel
a little cloudy in their thinking and stuff but I think within probably a month at the
outside most people pretty much back to doing normal things and doing what they need to do.
>>Some people may be watching, wondering, could I be a candidate if I suffer from severe OCD?
>>Sure, well obviously, we love to evaluate people. You know, this is obviously not the thing
that we do first and we don't do a brain operation first for this and people who come to us typically
have been through an awful lot in terms of medication and therapy trying to get this better.
Oftentimes, their psychiatrists have thought this was an option but people also reached
out to us directly too and we get the team together it's a multi-disciplinary team so,
it's not just one person's opinion. We all get together to talk about somebody's situation
before we make, you know, recommendation as serious as a brain operation.