ON THE CHOPPY YELLOW LEVODOPA SEA

 ON THE CHOPPY YELLOW LEVODOPA SEA

Alas and alack for you, Mr. Potts,

Your neurostimulator's set way too high,

You're a stimulation junkie,

Falling around like Humpty Dumpty,

And those high settings are the reason why

I was indeed failing quite a lot 

Who was I to disagree,

So they brought my. stimulation level down

A bit quite drastically.

This meant at least a doubling of my medication,

Quite the conundrum and perturbation,

For woe be unto me,

I'm lost and I go flailing, recklessly go sailing

On the choppy yellow levodopa sea.

The side effects stupendous were just as I remembered them.

The dystonia, walking with toes curled under me,

The wild extra movements of dyskinesias, sapping me of energy,

A fountain of treasures malicious, a mauling most vicious,

Sweating profuse that soaked my clothes at the peak of each dose.

Left me slinking in the shadows like an emaciated ghost.

Dropped at least 20 pounds with nary a sound,

Leaving the shore in a boat with no oars and floating recklessly

On the choppy yellow levodopa sea.

Sometimes I miss the old stumblebum me.

Brain stimulator up way high,

With a quarter to a half of a pill now and then,

Feeling just as happy as a kite in the sky.

It was such a great repast, probably not meant to last.

Yet stil I wonder as I wander, what my future's going to be,

Obsessed with the loss of my DBS and drowning most precipitously

On the choppy.yellow levodopa sea.

-Bruce Potts

Copyright 2022

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Note: Thanks to my doctors who have thoughtfully helped me navigate the choppy yellow levodopa sea, one of those doctors even calling me at home to check on my progress as we attempt to get just the right combination between the deep brain stimulator settings and the levodopa dosage. it is indeed a work in progress. And thanks to my partner Kyle for working tirelessly to get my weight back up and for doing his best to raise my spirits through what has been a tremendously difficult time.